COMING THE OF INDUSTRY THE ECONOMIC REVOLUTION
I.
II.
III.
Division of Labor and the Factory
- Each worker did a specific role in the manufacturing of an item made manufacturing much more
efficient
- Use of steam engines in factory to increase production (Ex. Automated flourmill made by Oliver Evans)
Textile Industry and British Competition
- To protect its industrial leadership, Britain banned the export of textile machines and the emigration of
mechanics who knew how to build it such demand for mechanics that some disguised their identity
and sailed to the US
- Although US was abundant in raw materials, Britain had much larger working population they could
afford to undersell the US
- 1816 = Congress passed tariff that gave manufacturers protection from low-cost imports of cotton cloth
from Britain taxes reduced after complaints from southern planters and western farmers who wanted to
buy the goods
- To make up for small amount of working population in the US, women were hired in textile companies
some felt restricted, others felt freedom and independence
Wage Workers and the Labor Movement
- As years passed, more people worked under an employer
- Journeymen (carpenters, masons, cabinet makers...etc) concerned about the increasing length of workday
held successful strike on second attempt in 1827
- Artisans were being put out of business by industrialization
- Men organized labor unions and called for revolution to destroy aristocracy
- Machines began to replace manpower many people were dismissed
EXPANSION OF MARKETS AND THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION
I.
Migration to the Southwest and the Midwest
- Many people left for the west after the 1820s some to acquire land for future generations, and others
for hope in the fertile soil in creating wealth
- Southern plantation owners moved more slaves into the Old Southwest in response to demand for raw
cotton (First Stream)
- Small farmers migrating into Northwest Territory, many of them fleeing from planter-dominated slave
states (Second Stream)
- Overcrowded farms from New England settlers poured into upstate New York and into Northwest
(Third Stream)
II.
The Transportation Revolution forges Regional Ties
- National Road and other interregional highways carried migrants to the East
- Creation of the Erie Canal Dewitt Clinton his plans were criticized greatly but he managed to
persuade bankers for bonds first project in American history to alter ecology and economy unheard
of 364 miles long canal immediately brought New York as Americas greatest trade port
- Erie canal allowed transportation to be much cheaper and faster
- Creation of steamboat allowed huge cargo capacity
- National system of transportation encouraged by Justice John Marshall struck down state controls over
interstate commerce gave federal government authority over interstate commerce
- Railroad greatly increased speed of transportation and was built mostly in the North one of the
sources of conflicts between North and South
- South was concerned mostly with cotton and slaves
- South remained predominately an agricultural economy
KING COTTON
I.
The North and the South Grow Apart
- Southern soil became exhausted planters began to move to the west
- Many hoped that slavery would naturally die since slaves became burdensome and expensive
Creation of cotton gin boosted slavery import
-
II.
Missouri tried to enter US as slave state protested since it would unbalance the free states vs. slave
states Slave states would not allow Maine to be separated from Massachusetts as a free state
Missouri Compromise: Allow Maine to enter as free state and Missouri to enter as slave state, and all
state admissions has to be in pairs to balance the system and the prohibition of slavery in the rest of the
Louisiana Purchase North of the southern boundary of Missouri
Southern Social Order
- Elites owned many slaves and wanted to keep their legacy within the family married their children
together
- Proslavery apologists: say that slavery is a necessary evil or else the South would go out of business
- Also used bibles to justify slavery Christ never condoned slavery
- Non-slave owning farmers didnt rebel hopes of owning slaves one day
- Nearly all southerners (including the elite) were illiterate
CHANGES IN SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND LIFE IN THE CITY
I.
The Business Elite
- Richest class: bankers, merchants, landlords, manufacturersetc
- Broke the previous thought of everyone sharing common culture
- Business elite was very little of population, yet had most of the nations total wealth government tax
policies helped them taxed imported goods such as textiles that ordinary citizens needed
- Taxation of bonds and stocks owned by the rich was rare
II.
The Middle Class
- Non-propertied wage-earners: farmers, mechanics, tradersetc
- Size, wealth and cultural influence of Middle class grew steadily wives of middle-class men did not
have to seek work
- Successful parents gave their children high education in hopes of passing on morals, discipline and status
III.
The New Urban Poor
- Many workers were dismissed and rehired at another factory on a daily basis
- Had almost no property usually clothes and a non-hospitable shelter is what they owned
- Many workers turned to alcohol to ease their pain workers were drunk constantly, which affected the
middle class and the business elite Creation of urban police forces
FEDERALISM AND STATES RIGHTS TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION
-
-
-
-
Tariff of 1828 helped Jackson in the beginning, but now presented him with a political crisis
Fiercest opposition to tariff was in South Carolina slaveowners suffered chronic insecurity SC only state
with African American majority fear of black rebellion
SC also worried about laws that abolish slavery worried that the US would follow Britain and abolish slavery
Congress ignored southern warnings and refused to lower duties by Tariff of Abominations
South Carolinians called state convention adopted Ordinance of Nullification declared tariffs of 1828 and
1832 void and threatened secession if federal government tried to collect taxes
Jackson wanted to limit the powers of the national government, but he believed it should be done through the
existing constitutional system
Jackson appealed to patriotism and declared that nullification violated the Constitution Congress passed a
Force Bill in 1833 allowing him to use army to compel obedience
Jackson also gradually decreased taxes from the tariff
JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY
I.
The Democracy and the Election of 1828
- Current president Adam was blamed for bad taxes and had many weaknesses in his politics many
encouraged Jackson to run for presidency
- Jacksonians called themselves Democratic-Republicans which turned into the Democracy
- Jackson called the republic as being corrupted by special privileges and corporate interests
-
Jacksons ideas appealed to variety of people: urban workers and artisans threatened by industrialization
to white farmers who wanted the removal of Indians also appealed to South saying that the current
rates and taxes for the South was too high
II.
Jacksons Agenda: Patronage and Policy
- Jackson relied primarily on informal group of advisers (called Kitchen Cabinet) for policies
- Jackson used patronage to create loyal and disciplined party insisted on rotation in office so that
bureaucrats did not get corrupt
- Main priority to destroy Clays American System Jackson rejected federal support for transportation
projects
THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR BILL THE BANK WAR
-
The Second Bank was at the center of the American financial system operated since 1816 under 20-year
charter from federal government
- Role was to stabilize nations money supply Most American money consisted of notes issued by state-charted
banks
- Banks promised to redeem notes on demand with gold or silver coins Second bank kept state banks from
issuing too many notes
- 1820s Second Bank maintained monetary stability and restrained expansion-minded banks in western states
made some close down
- Most Americans did not understand role of Second Bank and feared its power to force bank closures citizens
held worthless bank notes
- Wealthy Americans wanted gold or silver (called specie) owned by the federal government to be deposited in
their institutions rather than the Second Bank
- 1832 Jacksons opponents in Congress (led by Henry Clay and Daniel Webster) persuaded Biddle to request
early re-charter for the Second Bank
- Jackson retaliated by vetoing the bank bill became public hero because his veto message blended constitutional
arguments with patriotic fervor
- Jackson declared that Congress had no constitutional authority to charter national bank then attacked the
Second Bank, called it a nest of special privilege and monopoly of power which leads into corruption and is
dangerous to the liberties of the people
- Jackson provoked patriotism by saying that British aristocrats owned much of the Second Banks stock
Institutions should be purely American
- Jackson got re-elected in 1832 Martin Van Buren is Vice President
- State banks welcomed the demise of Second Bank
- Jackson launched another attack on Second Bank (still had years left on its current charter) had the Secretary
of Treasury withdraw governments specie from the bank and deposit it into institutions claimed that his reelection gave him mandate to destroy the Second Bank
- Bank War Jacksons opponents passed a resolution censuring Jackson and warning of despotism
(absolutism)
- Jackson reinvigorated the Jeffersonian tradition of limited, frugal government by destroying the American System
JACKSONS FOREIGN POLICY: INDIAN REMOVAL
I.
Indian Removal
- Status of Native Americans raised issues of federal vs. state power
- Late 1820s, white people throughout western states called for resettlement of the Indians to the west of
the Mississippi River
- Eastern whites (even those sympathetic towards Indians) favored resettlement preserve traditional
culture of Indians and protect them from direct competition with whites
- Old Southwest home to: Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws and Seminoles
- By 1820s, mixed blood Cherokees created centralized political system, thriving agricultural economy,
and wealthy slave-owning cotton planters Cherokees wanted their ancestral lands back 1825:
Cherokees adopted constitution and proclaimed themselves separate nation from US
-
Cherokees attempts did not impress Jackson (an alleged Indian hater) nor Georgia, since Georgia had
given up land claims in West in return for a federal promise to extinguish Indian land holdings in the state
Cherokees were merely tenants on a state-owned land
- Indian Removal Act of 1830 provided Oklahoma and Kansas to Native Americans who would give up
their ancestral holdings government promised them that the land would be theirs
- Chief Black Hawk refused to move 1832 Jacksons troops expelled them pushed them into
Wisconsin Territory and killed 850 of their warriors
- Many Indians were forced to sign treaties and move west of Mississippi Cherokees carried their case
to Supreme Court claimed status of foreign nation under the US Constitution
- Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia (1831) Chief Justice John Marshall denied their claim to national
independence
- Worcester vs. Georgia (1832) Marshall sided with Cherokees, voiding Georgias extension of state law
over them
- Instead of protecting Cherokees territory, Jackson moved purposefully to take it from them US
Commissioners signed removal treaty with a minority faction and insisted that all Cherokees abide by it
Martin Van Buren (succeeded Jackson as president) order General Winfield Scott to enforce treaty
forced over 14,000 Indians to travel 1,200 miles to new Indian Territory journey called Trail of Tears
- 3,000 Indians died of starvation and exposure during the journey
- Seminoles were only remaining Indian people in Old Southwest Aided by runaway slaves who married
into tribe, section of Seminoles fought successful guerilla war during 1840s and remained in Florida
(only exceptions)
THE JACKSONIAN LEGACY
I.
II.
The Whig Worldview
- Whig party began in Congress in 1834 opponents of Jackson banded together to protest his policies
name copied from Whigs that opposed the arbitrary actions of British monarchs (pre-Revolutionary
America)
- Led by Webster, Clay and Calhoun sought votes among evangelical Protestants and the mobile middle
and working class citizens of North
- Believed in political world dominated by men of wealth and talent and not of royal descent
- Northern Whigs called for a return of the American system of Clay and Quincy Adams
- Southern Whigs condemned Jacksons executive usurpation but did not share northern Whigs support
for high tariffs and social mobility
- Support for Whigs in the South rested on appeal of certain policies rather than with their social vision
- 1836 Whigs faced Martin Van Buren in the election Bure3n emphasized his opposition to the
American System and support for equal rights and promised to preserve liberty said Whigs wanted
to use government power to uphold Sabbath, prohibit sale of alcohol and abolish slavery
- Whigs attempted to run in four regional candidates to garner enough electoral votes to allow the House of
Representatives to decide (which the Whigs controlled) Van Buren still won election (51%)
Labor Politics and the Depression of 1837-1843
- To get workers votes, Whigs had to compete with workingmens parties that sprung up between 18271833
- Working Mens Party (New York City) demanded the abolition of private banks, chartered monopolies,
and imprisonment for debt WMP (Philadelphia) demanded that there be higher taxes on the wealthy
- Working Mens Parties embraced ideology of artisan republicanism goal was society where there
would be no dependent wage-earners and all men will be independent in their jobs left WMPs to
demand equal rights
- Taking advantage of economic boom of 1830s which increased demand of skilled labor: workers formed
unions to bargain for high wages and organized General Trade Union federations in NYC and
Philadelphia
- Panic of 1837 threw American economy into disarray Bank of England sharply curtailed flow of
money and credit to US to boost British economy textile mills cut their purchases of raw cotton from
South cotton prices drop people began to panic and withdraw all their coins from banks every
bank began to close down surplus of skilled laborers devastated the labor movement
III.
Commonwealth v. Hunter (1842): rights of workers to form unions and enforce a closed shop (agreement
to hire only union members) since union was not an illegal organization and union members could legally
attempt to enforce a closed ship, even by striking
Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!
- Depression had major impact on American politics many Americans blamed Democrats for their
economic woes esp. derided Jackson for destroying Second Bank and issuing the Specie Circular of
1936 western settlers use gold and silver coins to pay for land purchases
- Public turned its anger to Van Buren Buren refused to revoke Specie Circular Independent Treasury
Act of 1840 by Buren delayed recovery: act pulled federal specie out of Jacksons pet banks and placed
it in government vaults no purpose since pet banks were used to back loans
- Whigs organized their first national convention and nominated William Henry Harrison for president and
John Tyler for vice president Harrison was not politically smart but Clay and Webster wanted
Harrison to rubberstamp their programs for protective tariffs and national bank Harrisons military
background to make him seem like Jackson II
- Two parties struggled to win popularity Whigs called him Van Ruin
- Whigs boosted electoral hopes by welcoming women to their festivals Whigs recognized that women
from Yankee families were deeply involved in religious revivalism, temperance movement and other
benevolent activities
- Webster addressed 1,200 Whig women about their quicker and juster than men moral perceptions and
informed them of their plans
- Harrison died of pneumonia one month after his inauguration Tyler becomes president (but joined
Whigs only because he opposed Jacksons stance against nullification) Tyler was more like a democrat
on economic issues vetoed bills that raised tariffs and created new national banks
- Split between Tyler and Whigs allowed Democrats to regroup
- Struggle between Whigs and Democrats perpetuated man problems denying women, Indians and
African Americans an effective voice in political life
- US now allowed universal suffrage for white men and a highly organized system of representative
government that was responsive to ordinary citizens
REVIVALISM
I.
II.
The Benevolent Empire
- Disorder and lawlessness among urban wage earners sparked concern in well-to-do Americans
- Inspired by religious ideal of benevolence created organizations collectively called Benevolent
Empire
- Benevolent targeted age-old evils such as drunkenness, prostitution and crime instead of relying on
church sermons, the reformers set out to institutionalize charity and combat evil in systematic way
created large-scale organizations (such as Prison Discipline Society and American Society for the
Promotion of Temperance)
- These groups encouraged people to lead well-disciplined lives no drinking or prostitution persuaded
local governments to ban carnivals of drink and dancing (ex. Negro Election Day) created institutions
to control people who were threats to society and created homes of refuge for abandoned children of the
poor built asylums for the insane and campaigned for the end of corporal punishment for criminals and
for their rehabilitation through moral training in penitentiaries
- Women played active role upper-class women sponsored number of charitable organizations
- Some reformers believed that greatest threat to moral government of god was decline of traditional
Sabbath General Union for Prompting the Observance of the Christian Sabbath rose up forbid
business, games and festivals on Sunday
- Not everyone agreed with Benevolent Empire men who labored 12-14 hours a day refused to spend
their one day of leisure in meditation and prayer
- Evangelical reformers proposed to teach Christianity to slaves many southerners outraged
Revivalism and Reform
- Presbyterian minister Charles Grandison Finney born in poor farmer family, hoped to join new middle
class as lawyer underwent intense conversion experience and became minister
-
III.
Finney said that God would welcome any sinner who submitted to the Holy Spirit converted chose at
the ends of the social spectrum (the rich and the poor) humbled pride of rich and relieve shame of poor
by celebrating their common fellowship in Christ
- Finney moved his revivals to Rochester, New York group prayer meetings in family homes women
had active role
- Finney won over influential merchants and manufacturers who pledged to reform their lives and those of
their workers Cold Water movement: give up intoxicating beverages and work steady hours
- Sunday schools for the poor children and Female Charitable Society for unemployed
- Many ministers adopted Finneys evangelical message and techniques
- Evangelical reformers reinforced traditional moral foundations of the American work ethic people
needed to experience profound change of heart achieved only in religious conversion
- Religion and ideology of social mobility served as cement that held society together in face of massive
changes common identity between classes
Immigration and Cultural Conflict
- Between 1840-1860, millions of Irish, Germans and Britons came into US new strains on the
American Social Order most immigrants avoided South because they opposed slavery, shunned blacks,
or feared competition
- Most prosperous immigrants were British poorest were from Ireland who came because of blight on
potatoes
- Many Germans and nearly all Irish were devout Catholics fueled growth of Catholic Church
- When first Irish immigrants arrived, they were greeted by rash of anti-Catholic publications
- Samuel F.F. Morse believed that Catholic immigrants would obey the dictates of Pope Pius IX who
condemned republicanism as a false political ideology based on the sovereignty pf the people rather than
that of God
- Many unemployed Protestants attacked Catholics and formed Native American Clubs, which called for
limits on immigration and office rights to native-born citizens
- Many reformers supported anti-Catholic movement to prevent the diversion of tax resources to Catholic
schools and oppose alcoholic abuse by Irish and Germans
INDIVIDUALISM: TRANSCENDENTALISM
I.
II.
III.
Individualism
- Americans as people who were no longer attached to each other by any tie of caste, class, association or
family (Alexis de Tocqueville)
Emerson and Transcendentalism
- Emerson was lead spokesman for transcendentalism first advocates were spiritually inclined young
men who questioned constraints by Puritans
- New concept of self and society called Romanticism Romantic thinkers tried to capture the passionate
character of the human spirit and sought deeper insights into the mysteries of existence to experience
this deeper reality, people had to transcend or go beyond the rational ways in which they normally
comprehended the world people could soar beyond limits of ordinary experience and gain mystical
knowledge of eternal things
- Emerson was a Unitarian minister: believed God was a single being and not a trinity rejected
organized religion in favor of individual moral insight saw people as being trapped in inherited
customs and institution discovery of a persons original relation with Nature private union with
currents of Universal Being setting: solitude under open sky in nature
- Essays and lectured said that all nature was saturated in presence of God preoccupation with work,
profits, and consumption of factory-made goods could drain the nations spiritual energy
- Middle class was especially affected by Emersons lectures Finneys account of his conversion
experience pointed in Emersonian directions
Emersons Literary Influence
- The American Scholar (1837) literary declaration of independence from the courtly muse of old
Europe
- Told people to find inspiration in not doing things, but in ordinary moments
-
IV.
Henry David Thoreau heard Emersons call Turned to American environment for inspiration 1845,
Thoreaus brother dies Thoreau turned away from society and embraced self-reliance and natural
world by building cabin near Walden Pond and living alone for 2 years
- Thoreau became advocate for social nonconformity and philosopher of civil disobedience
- Margaret Fuller explored possibilities for freedom for women began transcendental conversation for
educated Boston women Fuller began editing the leading transcendentalist journal, the Dial
- Fuller had a transcendental belief that women, like men, had a mystical relationship with God that gave
them identity and dignity her writings inspired a rising generation of women reformers
- Walt Whitman claims no solitude, but perfect communion with others said that a poet could claim a
profoundly intimate, mystical relationship with a mass audience
- For Emerson, Thoreau and Fuller, the individual had a divine spark For Whitman, the individual
actually becomes divine
- Transcendentalist were not nave optimists all know what real life is
- Nathaniel Hawthorn and Herman Melville influenced by Emersons writings addressed the opposition
between individual transcendence and legitimate requirements of social order, discipline and
responsibility: Hawthorn wrote The Scarlet Letter, Melville wrote Moby Dick
- Moby Dick was commercial failure middle-class refused to follow Melville into dark, dangerous
realms of individualism gone mad
- Readers also unenthusiastic about Thoreaus advocacy of civil disobedience and Whitmans boundless
claims for a mystical union between the man of genius and the democratic mass
Brook Farm
- American transcendentalists and radical reformers created ideal communities, or utopias
- Hoped that these planned societies would allow members to realize their spiritual and moral potential
- Most important communal experiment of transcendentalists Brook Farm (1841) members hoped to
develop their minds and souls and uplift society through inspiration
- Brook Farmers supported themselves by selling milk, vegetables, and hay but organized farming so that
they could remain relatively independent of market with its cycles of boom and bust
- Intellectual life of Brook farm was electric all major transcendentalists were residents or frequent
visitors Music, dancing, games, plays, parties, picnics, dramatic readings to inspire
- Brook Farm failed to achieve economic sustainability After a devastating fire, organizers disbanded
and sold farm
- After failure of Brook Farm transcendentalists abandoned their attempts to fashion new system of
social organization most accepted brute reality of industrial society and tried to reform it through
education of workers
GARRISON AND EVANGELICAL ABOLITIONISM
-
-
-
Dedicated cadre of northern/Midwestern evangelical whites launched moral crusade to abolish slavery
Evangelicals believed: if slave owners did not repent and give their slaves freedom, they faced prospect of
revolution in this world and damnation in the next
William Lloyd Garrison condemned American Colonization Society said it only removed troublesome African
Americans that were already free
Garrison attacked US Constitution for implicit acceptance of racial bondage called it a covenant with death,
an agreement with Hell
Garrison demanded abolition of slavery without reimbursement for slave owners concluded that slavery was a
sign of deep corruption and called for reform
Theodore Dwight Weld joined Garrison Garrison, Weld, Arthur, Tappan + many other delegates (white and
black) met in Philadelphia in 1833 to establish American Anti-Slavery Society received financial support from
the Tappans (wealthy merchants in NYC) Women abolitionists also made organizations especially helpful
in farms, distributing abolitionist literature and gathering signatures
Abolitionists led three-pronged attack: 1st: Large rallies led by stirring speakers, constant agitation by local
antislavery chapters and home visits by agents of movement used latest technology of mass-communication
their works spread
-
2nd attack: assist African Americans who fled from slavery underground railroad Harriet Tubman risked
re-enslavement + death to help other slaves
- Problems: Some northern/Midwestern states still did not allow suffrage for blacks and South had Fugitive Slave
Law (1793) to hunt down escaped slaves
- 3rd attack: Abolitionists sought support from state + national legislators 500,000 signatures in petitions
bombarded Congress
OPPOSITION AND INTERNAL CONFLICT
- Abolitionists won over only small minority opponents greater and fiercer
- Traditional-minded clergymen condemned public roles by abolitionist women
- Northern wage-earners feared that free slaves would take their jobs
- Nearly all whites, northern and southern opposed amalgamation racial mixing
- Anti-abolitionists were often led to violence destroyed homes and churches of blacks and abolitionists
- Racial solidarity strong in South Georgia legislature offered reward for kidnapping Garrison and bringing him
to South for trial for inciting riots
- Garrison extended his agenda to support womens rights beginning of split with conservative abolitionists
Garrison elected Abby Kelley as business committee
- Conservative abolitionists founded American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
- Other abolitionists turned to electoral politics: nominated James G. Birney for president (slave owner who
converted)
COMMUNALISM
-
Organized themselves along socialist lines with common ownership of property or by experimenting with
unconventional forms of marriage and family life
- Questioned acquisitive capitalist values and traditional gender roles
- Most communalists were ordinary farmers and artisans seeking refuge from economic depression that began with
Panic of 1837
I.
The Shakers
- First successful American communal movement 1170 Ann Lee Stanley had a vision that she was the
incarnation of Christ led a band of eight followers to America 4 years later and named Shaking Quakers
because of their ecstatic dance worships
- After Mother Anns death Shakers decided to withdraw from the evils of the world into strictly run
communities of believers embraced common ownership of property, accepted strict government by the church,
and pledged to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, politics and war, eliminated marriage and committed to celibacy
- Shakers believed that God was a Dual person, male and female eliminate distinctions between sexes,
Eldresses and Elders had equal work opportunity
- Shakers founded 20 communities their agriculture and crafts acquired a reputation for quality and they became
self-sustaining
- Since Shakers had no children relied on converts and adoption of orphans sources dried up and Shakers
virtually disappeared by the end of 19th century
II.
The Fourierist Phalanxes
- Charles Fourier was a French utopian reformer devised 8-stage theory of social evolution which predicted the
imminent decline of individualism and capitalism
- New social institutions that would end the slavish system of Hired Labor or Labor for Wages in its place,
cooperative work in groups called phalanxes
- Members of phalanx would be its shareholders own all property in common, including stores and banketc
- Fourier and Brisbane saw phalanx as practical, human alternative to emerging capitalist society would also
liberate women as well as men
- Brisbane promoted Fouriers ideas in The Social Destiny of Man
- Communities unable to support themselves and collapsed
- While it failed to establish viable communities, the Fourierist movement underscored both the extent of the social
dislocation caused by the economic depression and the difficulty of establishing a utopian community in absence
of leaders of compelling religious vision
III.
Noyes and the Oneida Community
-
Radical minister John Humphrey Noyes believed the Fourierists failed because their communities lacked strong
religious ethic required for sustained altruism and cooperation
- Praised Shakers as pioneers of modern Socialism Noyes liked Shakers marriageless society wanted to
create community that redefined sexuality and gender roles
- Noyes expelled from Congregational Church for unorthodox doctrines became leader of perfectionism
Believed that the Second Coming of Christ already occurred and that people could aspire to perfection in their
earthly lives, attaining complete freedom from sin
- Noyes believed that major barrier was marriage, which didnt exist in heaven
- Instead of celibacy, Noyes embraced complex marriage everyone in community was married to each other to
give women more freedom, he sought to limit childbirth by urging men to have intercourse without orgasm and
establish nurseries for children freeing women from their child duties
- To show equality, men and women cut their hair short and wore same clothes
- Moved community to Oneida, New York and it became financially self-sufficient after Noyes fled to Canada
to avoid prosecution for adultery, community abandoned complex marriage and founded join-stock silver
manufacturing company (Oneida Community, Ltd.)
IV.
The Mormon Experience
- Also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
- Mormonism emerged from religious ferment among families of Puritan descent founder was Joseph Smith
believed that God singled him out to receive special revelation of divine truth created Book of Mormon that
he claimed to have translated from hieroglyphics shown to him by an angel named Moroni
- Encouraged followers to work hard, save their earnings and become entrepreneurs placed equal emphasis on
communal framework that would protect the Mormon New Jerusalem from individualism and outside threats
inspire moral perfection
- Faced persecution from anti-Mormons moved to Nauvoo, Illinois rigid discipline and secrecy of Mormons,
along with hostility to other sects fueled resentment among their neighbors Smith refused to abide by any
Illinois law that he did not approve of asked Congress to turn Nauvoo into federal territory and in 1844,
declared himself candidate for president of US
- Smith received new revelation that justified polygamy (more than one wife) Christian outrage
- 1844 Smith was arrested and charged with treason for allegedly conspiring with foreign powers to create
Mormon colony in Mexico
- Now led by Brigham Young Mormon elders sought religious freedom by leaving US and went into Mexican
territory
- Congress rejected Mormon petition to create new state, Desert
- Set up smaller Utah Territory in 1850 with Young as territorial governor President Buchanan removed Young
from governorship and sent a small army to Salt Lake City after Christian churches pressure to end polygamy
Mormon War with no blood Buchanan feared that forced abolition of polygamy serve as precedent for
ending of slavery
- Mormons endorsed private ownership and encouraged individualistic economic enterprise
- Mormon leaders resolutely used strict religious controls to create disciplined communities and patriarchal families
V.
Abolitionism
- Abolitionists demanded for immediate end to racial slavery led to fierce political debates, riots and sectional
conflict
- Abolitionism drew on religious energy and ideas generated by the Second Great Awakening
- Early 19th century reformers criticized human bondage as contrary to the tenets of republicanism and liberty
- Abolitionists condemn slavery as sin and saw it as their moral duty to end this sin
SLAVE SOCIETY AND CULTURE
-
Planters imposed their values on white societies 3 developments helped to create distinct and unified
culture among enslaved African Americans
First: Transatlantic slave trade (1809) gradually created entirely American-born black population
Second: movement of slavery into Mississippi Valley slowed reduced cultural differences between slaves
Third: Both southern & northern cities, free blacks consciously created distinct African American
community
-
-
-
-
Enslaved blacks in South Carolina + elsewhere continued to respect African incest taboos shunned
marriage between cousins different from southern white planters However, southern state laws
prohibit legal marriages between slaves so they could be sold without breaking a bond African
Americans devised their own marriage rituals: Ask parents consent to marry and owners consent to live
together Jumped over broomstick together to symbolize marriage
Separation common in African American families however, majority of slave marriages were stable
To maintain their cultural identity, recently imported slaves gave their children African names (ex. Males
born on Friday often called Cuffee)
Naming patterns solidified kinship ties, creating order in harsh world
By forming stable families & strong communities, African Americans were better able to control their
own lives In South Carolina, blacks won the right to labor by task rather than under supervision (If
they finished their task early, they could spend the rest of the day enjoying themselves)
Planters cant overly abuse their slaves get little work out of them
Developed gang-labor systems where planters with 20+ slaves organized them into gangs supervised
by black Drivers or white overseers and they had a specific task increase output
Drivers and overseers allowed to use lash to work on gangs at steady pace
To resist gang labor slaves slowed pace of work by feigning illness or being careless also said that
people should be sold in families
Gabriel & Martin Prossner and Denmark Vesey plotted mass uprisings and murders but whites were
also unified and armed
Hundreds of blacks fled to Florida to seek refuge from slavery intermarried with Seminole Indians
Other slaves lived in marshy areas or mountain valleys, hoping not to be killed, caught, or enslaved by
whites or Indian warriors
TEXAS AND OREGON THE REALITIES OF THE WEST
I.
II.
The Independence of Texas
- Major Stephen H. Long said that the area between Missouri River and Rocky Mountains was wholly
unfit for cultivation land hungry planters looked toward Texas (Mexican province)
- Independence from Spain in 1821 Mexican government encouraged settlement by its citizens as well
as US migrants granted Americans some of the best lands to win allegiance
- Americans did not assimilate Mexican culture 1829 won special exemption from a law ending slavery
in Mexico
- Mexican government begins to assert control over Texas Americans split into two groups: peace
party (self-government for the province, led by Stephen Austin) and war party (Independence)
- New President: General Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna strong nationalist, appointed military
commandant for Texas prompted American war party to provoke a rebellion that most American
settlers supported March 2, 1836 rebels proclaimed independence of Texas and adopted
constitution legalizing slavery
- Santa Anna vowed to put down the rebellion March 6, his army wiped out revel garrison defending the
Alamo in San Antonio and captured settlement of Goliad Santa Anna thought he crushed rebellion
Battle of Alamo captured attention from New Orleans and New York American media romanticized
the heroism of Texans in the Alamo and the deaths of folk heroes like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie
newspapers described Mexicans as tyrannical butchers in service of the pope (anti-Catholic)
- 1836 rebels routed the Mexicans in battle of San Jacinto established de facto independence
Mexican government refused to recognize the new republic but abandoned efforts to re-conquer it
Texans immediately voted for annexation by the US but Jackson and Van Buren refused knew that
adding Texas as slave state would divide Democratic Party and lead to war with Mexico
The Push to the Pacific: Oregon and California
- Country expanding towards west due to idea of Manifest Destiny
- 1842: American interest in Oregon increased Navy Lt. Charles Wilkes published reports of potential
harbors he found in area of Puget Sound Great interest to New England merchants plying the China
trade
-
III.
Also, hundreds of settlers who journeyed along the Oregon trail to trade fur/explore claimed that Oregon
had a mild climate and fertile soil Oregon fever
- 1843 Thousands of people gathered in Independence, Missouri to trek to Oregon migrants mostly
farmers (had military style organization)
- Women found the trail difficult exaggerated the authority of husbands and added to their traditional
chores of driving wagons and laboring over animals
- Some pioneers ended up in Mexican province of California settled near Sacramento River
- California remotest corner of Spains American empire New England merchants struck up trade with
settlers in California bought sea otter pelts that they carried to China
- Commerce increased after Mexico won independence to promote Californias development new
Mexican government liberated more than 20,000 Indians and promoted large-scale cattle ranching new
economy
- Unlike in Texas, many Americans assimilated into the Mexican culture of California Native
Americans, Mexicans & Americans began to intermix
- Elite Mexicans Californios
- American settlers in Sacramento Valley had no desire to assimilate into Mexican society legal standing
uncertain hoped to emulate the Americans in Texas by colonizing the country and sought annexation
by the US
The Faithful Election of 1844
- Election of 1844 determined the course of the American governments policy toward California, Oregon
and Texas
- Since 1836, when Texas requested annexation, southern leaders favored territorial expansion to extend
slave system opposed by northern abolitionists and by British anti-slavery advocates
- 1839 Britain and France intervened in Mexico to force it to pay its foreign debt rumors that Britain
wanted California as payment believed that Britain was encouraging Texas to remain independent and
had designs on Cuba to thwart scheme, southern expansionists demanded immediate annexation of
Texas
- Since northerners demanded expansion, southern Democrats could champion the annexation of Texas
without threatening party unity
- To get reelected, President John Tyler proposed annexation of Texas and seizure of Oregon treaty to
annex Texas was opposed by Van Buren and Henry Clay Texas became central issue
- Democrats did not trust Tyler, and southern Democrats despised Van Buren for his opposition to the
annexation turned to James K. Polk, Jacksons personal favorite he called for annexation of Texas
and takeover for Oregon motto was Fifty-four forty or fight! 5440 line for Oregon
- Whigs nominated Henry Clay (same political values) said he might support annexation
disappointed Whigs and Democrats who opposed expansion of slavery people supported James G.
Birney, but Polk ended up as victor Democrats closed ranks and moved immediately to brining Texas
into union unable to secure 2/3 majority in Senate for treaty approved annexation by joint
resolution of Congress
WAR, EXPANSION, AND SLAVERY, 1846-1850
I.
The War With Mexico, 1846-1848
- Mexico didnt prosper in 25 years since it was free from Spain (1821)
- Mexican republic also overwhelmed with foreign debt did not have the money nor the people to settle
its distant northern provinces
- Mexico still determined to retain all its territories when Texas Republic became a state in 1845,
Mexico broke off relationships with US
- President Polk already had plans to acquire Mexicos far northern provinces saw Mexicos actions as a
great opportunity sent General Taylor and 2,000 soldiers to occupy disputed lands between Nueces
River and Rio Grande Polk then dispatched John Slidell on secret mission to Mexico city to secure
Mexicos acceptance of Rio Grande boundary and buy Mexican provinces of New Mexico and California
(pay up to $30 mil) Mexican officials refused to see Slidell, saying that American annexation of Texas
II.
was illegal Polk had already been anticipating Slidells failure alternative plan to take California
create a revolution in Texas which would lead into creation of independent republic and a request for
annexation
- Sent Secretary of State James Buchanan to encourage leading Mexican residents to declare independence
and support peaceful annexation sent American naval commanders in Pacific to seize San Francisco
Bay and Californias coastal times in case of war
- When Polk learned of Slidells failure ordered General Taylor to build fort near Rio Grande hope to
incite armed response by Mexico
- Majority of Congress voted for war with Mexico ignored Whig pleas for a peaceful resolution
- To avoid simultaneous war with Britain over Oregon, Polk withdrew campaign pledge of fifty-four forty
or fight and accepted British proposal to divide Oregon region at forty-ninth parallel
- Senate ratifies Oregon Treaty with Great Britain in 1846 fighting breaks out in California between
American navy and Mexican authorities Polk ordered army to capture Santa Fe in New Mexico to
control California
- Taylors army in Texas was successful as well conquered as they went by end of 1848, US
controlled much of north-eastern Mexico
- Polk underrated Mexicos national pride Santa Anna went on the offensive attacked depleted units
of Taylor at Buena Vista in 1847 Superior artillery only reason Taylor was victorious
- Polk accepted General Scotts plan to strike deep into Mexico to bring Santa Anna to terms troops
crushed Santa Annas attempt to block their march at Cerro Gordo and seized Mexico City in 1847
Santa Anna overthrown and new Mexican government agreed to make peace
A Divisive Victory
- Many Whigs (such as Charles Francis Adams and Joshua Giddings) opposed war from beginning on
moral grounds (conscience Whigs) viewed it as a conspiracy to add new slave states to West
- Argued that expansion of slavery would jeopardize the Jeffersonian ideals (yeoman farmers) Whigs
grew bolder after elections of 1856
- Polks expansionist policy split Democrats into sections 1846, David Wilmot proposed simple
amendment to military appropriations bill to prohibit slavery in any new territories acquired from Mexico
Wilmot Proviso became rallying point for anti-slavery people Van Buren joined with anti-slavery
Whigs to pass Proviso but Proslavery Senate killed it
- Polk, Buchanan, Douglas and Davis wanted US to take at least part of Mexico south of Rio Grande
some southerners worried that the US could not absorb Mexicans and feared a longer war would augment
the power of federal government
- Calhoun supported taking only California and New Mexico
- To reunify Democratic Party before next election, Polk and Buchanan abandoned expansionists dreams in
Mexico and accepted Calhouns policy
- 1848, Polk signed Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo US pays Mexico $15 million in return for some
territory: Texas north of Rio Grande, New Mexico, and California also to assume all claims of its
citizens
- Passions aroused by war dominated election of 1848 Wilmot Proviso energized abolitionists and
Senates refusal to pass it alarmed them claimed that southern planters and northern allies entered into
Slave Power conspiracy to expand bounds of slavery many northerners joined free-soil movement
abandoned Liberty Partys focus on sinfulness of slavery and depicted slavery as threat to republic
institutions and yeoman farmers Garrison denounced free-soil movement as racist whitemanism
- Political approach worked Free-soil attracted broad popular support
- Conflict over slavery took toll on Polk and Democrats Polk declined to run for second term and died 3
months later Democrats nominated expansionist Senator Lewis Cass advocated buying Cuba,
Annexing Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula, and taking all of Oregon however, was vague on question of
slavery in West promoted squatter sovereignty to give settlers in each territory the power to determine
its own status
- Casss political ingenuity failed Free Soil Party nominated Van Buren or President and chose Charles
Francis Adams as vice president to attract Whig votes
-
Whigs nominated General Taylor War of Mexico made him hero Old Rough and Ready won
Presidency but JUST barely
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850
I.
1850: Crisis and Compromise
- Before President Taylor took office, events in California sparked political crisis 1848, John A. Sutter
found flakes of gold in Sierra Nevada foothills in northern California tried to keep discovery a secret,
but by May, Americans were pouring into foothills
- President Polk confirmed the discovery in December gold rush 1849, 80,000 migrants called fortyniners arrived in California
- Rapid influx of settlers national debate over free soil forty-niners who lived in chaotic and crowded
towns wanted formation of territorial government to protect their lives and property President Taylor
advised Californians to apply for statehood immediately 1849, ratified state constitution that prohibited
slavery Taylor wanted to attract Free Soil-ers and northern Democrats into Whig Party urged
Congress to admit California as a free state Southern politicians alarmed by swift victory threatened
balance of Senate decided to block its entry unless federal government guaranteed the future of slavery
long debates in Congress
- Calhoun warned of possible secession by slave states leads to civil war proposed that slavery to
guaranteed in all territories and that a constitutional amendment be adopted to create a permanent balance
of power between two sections new doctrine that would abolish Congresss authority to regulate
slavery in territories won support in Deep south, but southerners were prepared to accept a more
moderate position extension of Missouri Compromise line to Pacific Ocean guarantee slave owners
access to some western territories many Democrats favored this option resolve crisis
- Third alternative to squatter sovereignty proposed by Lewis Cass in 1848 called it popular
sovereignty to emphasize its roots in republic ideology had appeal place decisions about slavery in
the hands of local settlers and their territorial governments popular sovereignty a vague concept
could slavery be accepted or banned when the territory was first organized? Or after it framed a
constitution and applied for statehood?
- Antislavery advocates unwilling to accept any plan that expands slavery Senator Salmon R. Chase
urged federal authorities to contain slavery and then abolish it brink of disaster, Whigs and Democrats
sought a compromise Clay and Webster and Stephen A. Douglas organized complex package of 6 laws
Compromise of 1850 included new Fugitive act allowing slave owners to use federal magistrates to
return runaway slaves also admits California as free state abolishes slave trade (not slavery) in
District of Columbia barely averted crisis in 1850
- Southern politicians agreed to support secession in future if Congress abolished slavery or refused to
grant statehood to proslavery state
THE END OF THE SECOND PARTY SYSTEM, 1850-1858
I.
II.
Resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act
- Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin increased northern opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act
translated moral principles of abolitionism into heartrending personal situations People defied Fugitive
Slave Act
- Northern legislature challenged federal authority enacted personal-liberty laws that extended legal
rights to accused fugitives 1857, Ableman v. Booth, stated that Fugitive Slave Act could not be
enforced in Wisconsin
- Chief Justice affirmed the supremacy of federal government over state courts by that time, Fugitive
Slave Act was a dead letter
The Whigs Decline and the Democrats Diplomacy
- 1852, Clay dies Whigs nominated General Winfield Scott to be President 1/3 of southern Whigs
refused to support Scott because northern members refused to support slavery threw their support to
Democrats Democrats also divided
-
III.
IV.
Pleased that California entered as free state, Van Buren and other Free Soilers voted for Pierce
reunited Democratic party Franklin Pierce becomes president Whigs divided and never waged a
national campaign
- Pierce pursued expansionist foreign policy sent mission to Japan to negotiate a commercial treaty
revived Polks plan to annex a large amount of territory south of Rio Grande Mexican officials
rejected his offer but sold a small amount of land to Gadsden (who was sent by Pierce) to create a
southern-based transcontinental railroad to the Pacific
- Pierces most dramatic foreign policy was Cuba Southern expansionists already tried military
expeditions to prod Spanish Cuba into joining the US 1853, Pierce supported new Cuban expedition
led by John A. Quitman as Quitman built up his forces while Pierce threatened war with Spain over a
seizure of an American ship and demanded apology and large indemnity Northern Democrats in
Congress refused to support the aggressive diplomacy Pierce backed down
- Ostend Manifesto (1854) Diplomats declared that the US would be justified in seizing Cuba
triggered wave of northern resentment against the South Pierce had to stop his efforts Northerners
began to fear Slave Power conspiracy once more
The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Rise of New Parties
- Because of Missouri Compromise, Southern senators delayed political organization of the area
westward looking residents of upper South wanted settlement Southern Senator Stephen A. Douglas
introduced bill to extinguish Native American rights on the central plains and call it organize a free
territory called Nebraska was chosen because he acted north
- Douglass bill conflicted with plans of Southerners who wanted to extend slavery throughout Louisiana
Purchase Douglas changed his bill Amended his bill so that it repealed the Missouri Compromise
and organized the region by popular sovereignty and agreed to formation of Kansas as well, giving
slaveholders the chance to dominate the settlement of Kansas to win northern support, Douglas said
that Kansas is more for non-slaveholders because climate is not for plantations Kansas-Nebraska Act
passed in 1854
- Abolitionists and free-soilers denounced the act and called it a scheme to spread slavery abolitionists
and anti-Nebraska Democrats abandoned their parties and created a new party called the Republicans
- Competing for Whig and Democratic votes new party called the American or Know-Nothing
Party origins from anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic organizations hoped to unite native-born
Protestants against alien menace of Irish and German Catholics merged with Whigs and became
majority in HOR shows that huge parties can still emerge
- Kansas-Nebraska Act created new political crisis thousands of settlers rushed to Kansas territory
because of popular sovereignty many slaveholders AND non slaveholders came Pierce
administrations recognized it as pro-slavery, but free-soilers rejected it
- 1856, both sides turned to violence proslavery gang razed free-soil town of Lawrence, Kansas
attack enraged abolitionist John Brown he and his followers murdered 5 proslavery settlers fight
fire with fire
Buchanans Failed Presidency
- Bleeding Kansas Democrats nominated James Buchanan for Presidency Republican Party
insisted that government prohibit slavery in all territories republicans nominated free-soiler John C.
Frmont
- American Party entered election with high hopes, but quickly split Republicans maneuvered North and
won support from different groups
- Buchanan became President dramatic restructuring of parties now apparent collapse of KnowNothings and Republicans replaced Whigs since Republicans had no support in South, if they win
Union splits
- Fate of republic on Buchanan to defuse the conflicts events and his own weaknesses worked against
Buchanan 1856, case of Dred Scott (slave) that lived in free state is he free? Taney endorsed
Calhouns ideas and said no and that the Missouri Compromise and the Northwest Ordinance was never
constitutional Democrat-dominated Supreme Court declared the Republicans antislavery platform
unconstitutional Republicans accused Supreme Court and Buchanan in participating in the Slave
Power conspiracy 1858, Buchanan recommended the admission of Kansas as slave state under
Lecompton (city) constitution many people, including Douglas believed that the constitution had been
enacted by fraudulent means Douglas broke with President and southern allies and persuaded Congress
to deny statehood Buchanan split party and nation
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE REPUBLICAN TRIUMPH
I.
II.
Lincolns Early Career
- Originally served terms as a Whig and in 1846, won election to Congress
- Long felt that slavery was unjust, but had little sympathy for abolitionism and did not believe that the
deferral government had constitutional authority to tamper with slavery in the south
- Took both sides supported military appropriations for Polks war in Mexico, but voted for Wilmot
Proviso needed to take both sides to resolve issue criticized by both bodies withdrew from
politics
- Re-entered politics after Douglass Kansas-Nebraska Act attacked doctrine of popular sovereignty
wanted slavery out of territories
- Left Whigs and merged into the Republicans voiced the dangers of the Slave Power conspiracy
The Republican Politician
- 1858 duel with Douglas and Lincoln attracted national attention Douglas was prominent and Lincoln
was known to be a formidable speaker
- Douglas declared his support for white supremacy and attacked Lincoln for his belief in Negro equality
- Lincoln advocated economic opportunity for blacks (but not equal political rights) and asked Douglas
how he could accept the Dred Scott decision Douglas responded with the Freeport Doctrine, which
asserted that settlers could exclude slavery by no adopting local legislation to protect it upset
proslavery advocates (worried they would be denied victory won in case) and abolitionists (not convinced
that local regulations would stop slavery)
- Southern Democrats divided into Moderates (protect slavery) and Radicals (promoted secession)
- Radical northerners called John Browns idea of violent slave rebellion logical and inevitable result of
doctrines and teachings of Republican party Brown charged with treason and hanged praised by
Thoreau as an angel of light: slaveholders horrified by northern admiration of Brown South could
not count on Democratic party to protect its interests 1860, northern Democrats rejected Jefferson
Daviss program to protect slavery
- Democrats breaking down Republicans sense victory gained white support by opposing both
slavery and racial equality Republicans chose Lincoln as presidential candidate Lincoln more
moderate than Senator Seward, and also appealed to smallholding farmers and wage earners Lincoln
became President
- Republicans united Northeast, Midwest, and Far West and seized national power
SETTING THE STAGE FOR WAR
I.
Choosing Sides
- Movement toward secession in south was rapid ideas spread throughout South and many sought
similar conventions
- Mississippi, SC, FA, ALA, GA, LA and TX all left union and created the Confederate States of America
adopted provisional constitution and named Jefferson Davis (former US senator and secretary of war)
as provisional president
- Secessionist fervor less intense in VA, DE, MD, NC, Kentucky, TN, MO and ARK to try and restore
Union, upper South leaders proposed federal guarantees for slavery to exist where it is
- Union government floundered 1860, Buchanan said that secession was illegal, but federal government
had no authority to restore it by force SC saw his message as a recognition of its independence and
demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter
- Senator John J. Crittenden devised similar compromise to that of 1850 won congressional approval for
a constitutional amendment that would permanently protect slavery from federal interference in any state
where it presently existed and also called for a westward extension of the Missouri Compromise to the
II.
California border Republicans rejected second part of Crittendens proposal (Lincoln adamant to
uphold the doctrine of free soil)
- Lincolns inaugural address on March 4, 1861 called for reconciliation with a firm commitment to the
union promised to permit slavery in states where it existed but wanted free soil in territories also
stated that secession was illegal and violence against Union constituted insurrection Gave a choice to
South: return to Union, or face war
- South attacked Fort Sumter Lincoln called 75,000 militiamen into service no more compromise
Northerners enthusiastic
- White residents of upper South had to choose between Union and Confederacy crucial because it had
many resources & buffer zones
- Virginia convention passed ordinance of secession Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina quickly
joined Lincoln moved aggressively to hold rest of upper South creation of West Virginia (admitted
into Union in 1863)
- First combat: pro-Confederates attacked Massachusetts troops marching between Baltimore
- Union retained control of Missouri despite guerilla bands led by Confederate
- Lincoln wisely cut Kentuckys thriving exports Confederates moved troops into Kentucky asked for
federal protection Lincoln drove out Confederates
Setting Objectives and Devising Strategies
- Confederate leaders called on their people to defend independence of new nation
- Jefferson Daviss inauguration speech at 1861 identified Confederate cause with that of American
Revolution southerners fighting against tyranny and rights of self-government said they needed
military stalemate to guarantee independence
- Lincolns speech to Congress in 1861 portrayed secession as an attack on popular government only
by crushing the rebellion could the nation preserve its principles Lincoln rejected General Winfield
Scotts plan to use economic sanctions and naval blockades to persuade Confederates to return to Union
called for policy of unconditional surrender
- Dispatched army to attack Richmond, Confederate Capital army panicked after Confederates counterattacked North army retreated to Washington
- Lincoln created Army of Potomac with General George B. McClellan spent 1861-1862 recruiting and
training and in 1862, launched first major offensive war against Richmond skillfully transported
100,000 troops by boat down Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay moved slow so Confederates had
time to counterattack South army defeated three Union armies on its march towards Washington (led
by General Thomas J. Jackson) joined army of Confederate General Robert E. Lee Lee launched
attack that lasted 7 days with heavy casualties McClellan failed to exploit his advantage and Lincoln
ordered withdrawal of army
- Lee promptly went on offensive routed a Union army in the Second Battle of Bull Run struck north
through Maryland, but when Lee divided his force (sending Jackson to capture Harpers Ferry), his orders
fell into McClellans hands Union general failed to pursue his advantage and delayed attack until
Confederates had strong defense
- Fighting at Antietam was savage Bloody Lane critical point in battle were soldiers were among
piles of dead bodies, shooting at each other
- Battle of Antietam (1862) bloodiest single say in US military history Unions defeated Confederates
Lincoln declared it a victory but said McClellan should have fought Lee to the finish Lincoln
dismissed McClellan
- Lincoln placed Joseph Hooker as commander when 1862 ended, Confederates had reason to be
pleased war in east was stalemate
- West Union forces more successful water and land operations to gain control of Tennessee and
Mississippi River In north, General Ulysses S. Grant used riverboats clad with iron plates to take Fort
Henry moved south to seize critical railroad lines in TN Confederate army under Albert Sidney
Johnston caught Grant by surprise on April 6 near a small log church called Shiloh went into battle and
forced Confederate withdrawal but maintained huge casualty Lincoln still pleased
- Union naval forces commanded by Farragut struck from South Union held Souths financial center and
New Orleans (largest city) undermined Confederate strength in Mississippi Valley
CONDITIONS OF WAR: NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HOME FRONTS
I.
II.
Mobilizing Armies and Civilians
- Patriotic fervor filled both sides at first call for soldiers was initially high until people saw realities of
war: carnage and disease governments saw forced enlistment
- 1862, Confederacy imposed first binding draft in America had two loopholes: First, it exempted one
white man for each twenty slaves man from large plantations could avoid military service. Second,
drafted men could hire substitutes poor yeomen farmers and laborers called it a rich mans war and a
poor mans fight.
- Confederate constituted vested sovereignty in individual states some states chose to ignore
Confederacys draft laws state judges issued writs of habeas corpus (protect people from arbitrary
arrest) Confederacy overrode the judges authority to free conscripted men to gain army
- Union government took more authoritarian stance Lincoln suspended habeas corpus to prevent
opposition and imprisoned over 15,000 Confederate sympathizers without trial extended martial law to
civilians who resist the draft subject to military courts and not local juries Militia Act of 1862 set
quota of volunteers for each state (increased by Enrollment Act of 1863)
- Enrollment Act sparked opposition recent immigrants refused to serve in Union army (saying its not
their fight) Northern Democrats exploited this resentment by saying Lincoln was drafting poor whites
to free slaves and fill cities with black laborers
- 1863 Hostility to the draft and towards African Americans Irish and German workers razed and
rioted New York City for 5 days suppressed
- Union governments desire to wage total war won greater support among native-born citizens 1861,
prominent New Yorkers established the United States Sanitary Commission provides medical services
and prevent death from disease efforts successful to a point Mumps, Typhoid, Malariaetc killed
150,000 Union soldiers (twice as many as combat death)
- Confederate health system was poorly organized lost more men to disease than the Union army
- Women took leading role in Sanitary commission and other wartime agencies Dorothea Dix became
first woman to receive major federal appointment used her influence to combat the prejudice against
women treating men women gained much power during war (even became spies)
- Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross
Mobilizing Resources
- Union army entered war with a financial advantage (economically and with an abundance of resources)
- Confederate not weak Richmond was an important industrial center 1861, received the gun-making
machinery from the U.S. armory at Harpers Ferry 1863, nearly all southerners were provided with
rifles
- Confederacy also had a huge workforce from slaves provided food for army and cotton for export
relied on King Cotton for revenue
- Confederacy used cotton to grant diplomatic recognition, esp. from Britain (who didnt consider the
Confederacy as a nation, but saw the conflict as a war gave rights to Confederacy to borrow money
and purchase weapons)
- Outcome depended on how well the governments mobilized their societies
- Lincoln enacted program of national mercantilism (previously advocated by Clay and Whig Party) to
raise political support + boost industrial output
- Lincoln also raised tariffs (won over northern manufacturers) and Secretary of Treasury (Salmon P.
Chase) created national banking system
- 1862 Congress begins to build the transcontinental railroad Republicans also moved fast to provide
northern farmers with free land from the West Homestead Act of 1862 (heads of families or
individuals 21 or older given titles to 160 acres of land after 5 years of residence and improvement)
won allegiance of many northerners to Republican party
- Confederates left most economic matters in the hands of state governments
-
-
-
Davis administration built shipyards, armories, mills, mined raw materials, exercised direct control over
foreign trades southerners resented these measures, esp. in regions where Confederates failed to
manage shortages
Davis counted on racial solidarity to win support: warned whites that Union victory would destroy slavery
and reduce status of whites to slaves
Cost of fighting war was very costly to both sides
Republicans established method to raise money in 3 ways: increasing tariffs on consumer goods,
imposing taxes on business corps, inheritances and incomes, and persuading families to buy war bonds
National Banking Acts of 1863-4 forced state banks to accept national charter & buy bonds
Confederate lacked powerful central government to tax and borrow Confederate opposed taxes on
cotton and slaves taxes fell on middle-class and yeoman farm families often refused to pay
government covered a lot of the funds through borrowing many wary of bonds
Confederacy financed 60% of war with unbacked paper money huge inflation widespread
circulation of counterfeit Confederate notes riots broke out in many southern cities and towns In
Richmond, several hundred women broke into bakeries saying our children are starving while the rich
roll in wealth)
By 1865, prices rose to 92x the prices that they were in 1861 inflation not only undermined civilian
morale but prompted farmers to refuse Confederate money Force supply officers to seize what they
needed, and offered useless IOUs
Confederacy forced to violate property rights of citizens to sustain war
THE TURNING POINT: 1863
I.
II.
Emancipation
- As war casualties mounted in 1862, Lincoln accepted Douglasss argument and redefined war as a
struggle against slavery
- General Benjamin Butler labeled three slaves that escaped to the north as contraband slaves and refused
to return it to the South
- 1861: Congress passed First Confiscation Act: authorized seizure of all property (including slaves) used
to support rebellion
- Radical Republicans used this as a way to end war: leading Radicals (ex. Chase, Sumner) pushed
moderate Republicans toward abolition
- April, Congress ended slavery in D.C, with compensation for owners
- June, outlawed slavery in federal territories and enacted Wilmot Proviso and free-soil policy
- July, passed Second Confiscation Act declared all fugitive slaves free
- 1863: January, Lincoln prepared proclamation of emancipation and saw battle of Antietam as indication
of Divine Will declared his intention to free slaves seceding states had 100 days to preserve
slavery by returning to Union none did Lincoln allowed slavery in border (need loyalty)
- Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave, but changed nature of conflict Union soldiers
became agents of liberation
- Emancipation controversial During Congressional election of 1862, Democrats denounced
emancipation as unconstitutional, warned of slave uprisings and bloodshed in South, and warned that free
blacks would wash away jobs of northern workers Horatio Seymour and other Democrats gained seats
in Congress Republicans still had majority 1863, Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation
urged slaves to abstain from violence
Vicksburg and Gettysburg
- Increased popular support for Democrats who favored negotiated peace
- Two brilliant victories by Lee (at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville) caused further erosion of northern
support for war (rumors of new draft)
- General Grant mounted major offensive in West to split Confederacy into two Vicksburg surrendered
on July 4, 1863 took Port Hudson 5 days later and brought Union control of Mississippi
- Grant cut off LA, AR and TX from rest of Confederacy and prompted hundreds of slaves to desert their
plantations caused argument over strategy within Confederate leadership
-
-
-
Davis and leaders wanted to throw in reinforcements to defend Vicksburg and draw Grant out of
Mississippi However, Lee favored new invasion of North, believing that it would draw Union armies
east and relieve pressure
June 1863, Lee maneuvered his army north through Maryland into Pennsylvania Unions Army of
Potomac moved with them, positioning themselves between Lee and Washington confrontation at
Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg Lee was outnumbered and neither of the other two Generals (Ewell and
Longstreet) did not attack/unwilling to attack Meades army
July, Lee decided for frontal assault at center of Union line sent 14000 men to take Cemetery Ridge
met by massive fire
Gettysburg Battle most lethal battle of Civil War Great Union Victory, never did south attempt to
invade North
Mead allowed remaining Confederates to escape due to shock lost opportunity to end war
Fall of 1863, Republicans reaped political gains by receiving state and local elections in PA, OH, NY
Confederate elections of 1863 went sharply against the politicians who supported Davis many
criticized the ineffectiveness of war effort
Vicksburg and Gettysburg also ended Confederacys prospect of winning foreign recognition and
acquiring advanced weapons
Cotton was not a diplomatic weapon Britain found new sources of Cotton in Egypt and India
Dependence of Britain on Norths cheap wheat deterred government from supporting South
British workers and reformers enthusiastic champions of abolition
THE UNION VICTORIOUS, 1864-1865
I.
Soldiers and Strategy
- Lincoln administrations initially refused to consider blacks for military service
- Emancipation Proclamation made northern whites argue that if blacks were to benefit from the Union
victory, they should be fighting for it as well
- War Department authorized enlistment of free blacks and contraband slaves
- Military service did not end racial discrimination blacks used primarily to build fortresses and paid less
than white soldiers Despite such treatment, African Americans volunteered for military service in high
numbers
- Worst fears of secessionists came true Union rebellion against slavery
- March 1864, Lincoln put General Ulysses S. Grant in charge of all Union armies and supported Grants
plan to advance simultaneously against all major Confederate forces both wanted decisive victory
before election of 1864 Grant understood how to fight a modern war
- Grant made Vicksburg surrender and in November (1863), used Norths superior technology (railroad
transport) to charge to the rescue of a Union army near Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Grant accepts heavy casualties in assaults on strongly defended positions
- Grant willing to terrorize civilian population to crush South
- May 1864, Grant ordered major offensive on 2 fronts: With army of Potomac, he set out to destroy Lees
force in Virginia and instructed General Sherman to invade Georgia and take Atlanta
- Grant advanced to Richmond, hoping to fight Lee in open fields Lee, remembering Gettysburg,
maintained strong defense Grant attacked Lee at Cold Harbor but withdrew after losing men in frontal
assault Grant severely eroded Lees forces (but Union still lost more men)
- Fighting took heavy psychological toll constant fighting and pressure
- June, Grant pulled some troops away from Richmond to lay siege to Petersburg (railroad center) Union
and Confederate soldiers built complex networks of trenches & artillery emplacements for 50 miles
around Richmond and Petersburg
- As time passed, Lincoln and Grant felt pressured by the stalemate because of the oncoming November
election
- July 1864, raid by Jubal Earlys cavalry near Washington forced Grant to divert troops from Petersburg
campaign to punish farmers in Shenandoah Valley who provided base & food for Early and Lees
army, Grant ordered General Sheriden to turn the region into barren waste. Sheridens troops
conducted scorched-earth campaign, destroying grain supplies, barns, farming implements but did not
punish civilians (regarded them as noncombatants) punishing them erodes military discipline
RECONSTRUCTION
PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
I.
Johnsons Initiative
- Johnson is a Jacksonian Democrat champion of the common man did not like bloated, corrupt
aristocracy of the Northeast as well as disdainful of wealthy planters said poor whites had little
sympathy for enslaved blacks (he was slaveholder)
- May 1865 (month after Lincolns death) Johnson executed his own plan for restoration offered
amnesty to all southerners who took oath of allegiance to Constitution, except for high-ranking
Confederate officials and wealthy property owners considered them responsible for secession
- Appointed provisional governors for southern states as conditions for their restoration, states had to
revoke ordinances of secession, repudiate Confederate debt and ratify the 13 th Amendment, which
abolished slavery within months, all former Confederate states rejoined Union
- Republicans responded favorably at first moderates sympathetic to Johnsons states-rights argument
that it was for the states to decide what civil & political rights the freedmen should have Radicals liked
stern treatment of Confederate leaders hoped restored governments would show good faith by
generous treatment of the freed slaves
- Nothing of the sort happened South in ruins white southerners moved to restore slavery in all but
name enacted laws known as Black Codes designed to drive former slaves back to the plantations
and deny them elementary civil rights
- New southern governments formed by southern Unionists, but they werent distinguishable from the
Confederates as governments developed
- Johnson forgave ex-Confederate leaders as long as he got satisfaction of making them submit to his
authority emboldened former Confederates packed delegations to the new Congress with old
comrades last straw for Republicans
- Republican majorities in both houses refused to admit the southern delegations when Congress convened
in December 1865 Republicans assumed president would cooperate with them in formulating new
terms under which South would be readmitted to Congress Joint Committee on Reconstruction was
formed (House-Senate)
- Southern states backed away from most flagrant of Black Codes in response replaced them with
nonracial ordinances whose effect was same: applied to blacks, not whites
- Wave of violence across South against freedmen Republicans concluded that South embarked on effort
to circumvent the 13th Amendment only response was for federal government to intervene
- Before adjourning in March 1865, 38th Congress established Freedmens Bureau provide emergency
aid to former slaves during the period after war in early 1866, under Republican senator Lyman
Trumbull, Congress voted to extend Bureaus life gave it federal funding and authorized its agents to
investigate cases of discrimination against blacks
- Trumbells proposal for Civil Rights bill declaring all persons born in the US are citizens and are
guaranteed (disregarding race) equal rights of contract, access to courts, and protection of persons and
property nullified all state laws depriving citizens of these rights and provided fines and imprisonment
for violators
II.
ACTING ON FREEDOM
- News of emancipation left African Americans exultant and hopeful meant reunion of families, end of
punishment by the lash, ability to move around, begin schools and churches and engage in politics
freed slaves held massive meetings, paraded and formed organizations across the South topmost
among demands were equality before the law and the right to vote
- Economic independence was first emancipated blacks believed was basis for true freedom in final
months of war when plantation owners fled Union forces, freedmen seized control of land Sherman
reserved vast tracts of costal lands in GA and SC for liberated blacks freedmen assumed that the land
was theirs after war, resettlement was responsibility of the Freedmens Bureau charged with
distributing confiscated land to loyal refugees and freedman
- Many blacks stayed expectantly on their old plantations
- Johnsons amnesty plan to pardon Confederates to recover confiscated property shattered this plan
October 1865, Johnson ordered General Howard (head of Freedmens Bureau) to tell Sea Island blacks
that they would have to surrender the land they occupied former slaves refused and fought pitched
battles with plantation owners whites prevailed
- Plantation owners still retained gang labor replaced food, clothing and shelter with wages
Freedmens Bureau sided with planters saw offer of wages as half-step to independence But to
blacks, the condition of wage labor itself was debasing selling ones labor to work anothers land is still
dependency to be truly freemen, need to head household, own property and conduct ones own
affairs
- Many freed people voted with their feet abandoned plantations to seek better lives those who
remain in countryside refused to work cotton fields under hated gang labor
III.
CONGRESS VERSUS PRESIDENT
- February 1866, Johnson vetoed Freedmens Bureau Bill declared it unconstitutional because he
claimed that Congress lacked authority to provide a system for the support of indigent people because
states most directly affect by this is not represented in Congress Republicans could not gather enough
votes to override veto
- Johnson vetoed Trumbulls Civil Rights bill a month later his racism is showing fully in his view,
granting blacks the privileges of citizenship was discriminatory
- Republicans went into action to counter Johnson In April, got necessary 2/3 majorities in both Houses
and enacted Civil Rights Act of 1866 first time Congress prevailed over presidential veto on a major
legislation
- July, angry Congress renewed Freedmens Bureau over second Johnson veto
- Republicans moved to enshrine black civil rights in an amendment to the Constitution 14th Amendment
all persons born or naturalized in the United States were citizens established constitutionality of
Civil Rights Act
- 1866 congressional elections approaching Johnson urged states not to ratify 14th Amendment
Johnson begun to maneuver political against Republicans aimed to build a coalition of white
southerners, northern Democrats and conservative Republicans under the banner of National Union
any hope of creating new national party shattered by Johnsons intemperate behavior and escalating
violence in South
- Republicans responded with an attack called waving the bloody shirt Democrats were traitors
- August, Johnson embarked on disastrous swing around the circle railroad tour from Washington to
Chicago and St. Louis and back engaged in shouting matched with hecklers, insulted hostile crows,
and campaign personally for his party humiliating defeat in 1866 congressional elections
Republicans won 3 1 majority in Congress emerged with new sense of unity
- Radicals abolitionist strain within Republican Party most from New England/upper Midwest led
by Charles Sumner in Senate, Thaddeus Stevens in House for them, reconstruction not about restoring
Union but rather remaking Southern society
RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION
I.
Congress Takes Command
- Reconstruction Act of 1867 (March) organized South as conquered land, dividing it (except TN) into 5
military districts (each under command of Union general)
- Price for reentering Union granting the vote to freedmen and disenfranchising the Souths prewar
political class
- Each Military commander: register all eligible adult men (white and black), supervise election of state
conventions & to make sure new constitutions guarantee black suffrage Congress readmit state into
Union if its voters ratified state constitution which proved acceptable to Congress and if the state accepts
the 14TH Amendment (Johnson vetoed but Congress overrode)
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II.
III.
Tenure of Office Act President cannot remove without Senate consent any official whose appointment
required Senate confirmation chiefly to protect Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (Lincolns holdover and only one in Johnsons cabinet who favored radical reconstruction) President also required to
issue all orders to army through Grant Congress attempting to reconstruct president AND South
Johnson submissively appoints generals recommended by Stanton to command the 5 districts in South
August 1867, Johnson suspends Stanton and replaced him with Grant (thought Grant would listen
better) replaced 4 of the commanding generals (including Sheridan) misjudged Grant, who opposed
Presidents actions When Senate reconvened, it overruled Stantons suspension Grant resigns so
Stanton can resume office
February 1868, Johnson dismisses Stanton Stanton barricaded his office and refused to admit the
replacement 3 days later, House Republicans introduced articles of impeachment against Johnson
remove high federal officers guilty of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors
House approved 11 counts of presidential misconduct (9 dealt with Tenure of Office Act violations) At
Senate (acts as court in impeachment), House kept falling short of 2/3 majority Republicans
overwhelmed by viciousness of attack on Johnson thought the Tenure of Office Act was of dubious
validity real issue was removing a president for disagreeing with Congress ruins checks and
balances? Johnson not impeached, but remained helpless for the remainder of his term
Impeachment controversy made Grant a republican hero won partys presidential nomination in 1868
supported radical Reconstruction but also urged reconciliation opponents is Peace Democrat
Horatio Seymour Republicans stirred wartime emotions against Democrats (party of the South)
Grant won election and retained 2/3 majority in both houses of Congress 15TH Amendment (passed
February 1869-1870) forbids either federal government OR states from denying citizens the right to
vote based on race, color and previous condition of servitude left room for poll taxes and literacy
tests which would still discourage blacks from voting
Woman Suffrage Denied
- Women furious fought for abolition of slavery, but was abandoned by male allies
- Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton outraged Stanton lashed out that ignorant men can vote,
while accomplished women cant
- 1869 at the Equal Rights Association lead organization in struggle for rights of blacks and women
broke up Stanton and Anthony came out against 15TH Amendment
- Majority (led by Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe) reconciled and accepted priority of black suffrage
(allied to Republican Party) Stanton-Anthony group only accepted women, focused only on womens
rights, and took up battle for federal woman suffrage amendment
The South Under Radical Reconstruction
- 1868-1871, all southern states rejoined Union Republican organizations took hold across South and
won control of newly established Republican governments core support came from African Americans
(majority of registered voters in states such as SC, MI, LAetc)
- Southern whites who became Republicans faced scorn of Democratic former Confederates (called them
scalawags; worthless animals) called Whites who came from North carpetbaggers (self-seeking
interlopers who carried all their property)
- Carpetbaggers brought capital and skill, others were Union army veterans who like climate, economic
opportunities and people of the South
- Scalawags former slave owners, ex-Whigs, ex-Democrats, all drawn to Republicanism most
numerous of scalawags were yeomen farmers who wanted to rid the South of slaveholding aristocracy
Scalawags generally fought against Confederacy believed slavery victimized whites as well
- Democrats scorned black political leaders as being ignorant and as having impressionable field hands
first African American leaders in South came from elites of blacks free before Civil War joined by
northern blacks who were promised a meaningful freedom, veterans, missionaries, antislavery crusaders
Blanche K. Bruce, (1874) MIs second black U.S. Senator
- African American speakers (some financed by Republican party) recruited freed slaves for leadership
roles black office holders held positions of importance throughout South
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Republicans who took office wanted to end Souths dependence on cotton and build an industrial
economy similar to the Norths modernized state constitutions, eliminated property qualifications for
vote, and made more offices elective
Attended to personal freedom of former slaves and even expanded the rights of married women (hold
property and personal earnings independent of their husbands)
Republican social programs called for hospitals, humane penitentiaries, asylums for orphans and the
insane, Reconstruction government built roads and revived regions railroad network All without
federal financing
To fund their programs, Republicans copied taxes that Jacksonian reformers used taxes on personal
wealth force planters to pay taxes and force uncultivated land onto market former slaves served as
tax collectors in some states (collected from their onetime owners)
Even though taxes were implemented, State debts mounted, public credit collapsed, spending was wasted
or ended in pockets on state officials, corruption occurred which damaged cause of radical Reconstruction
Began to build a system of education for children in South by 1875, half of children in FL, MI, SC
were in class
Building of schools part of larger effort by African Americans to fortify institutions that sustained their
spirits during slavery Religion was very important built African American versions of Southern
Methodist and Southern Baptist denominations (National Baptist Convention and African Methodist
Episcopal Church) Black ministers were community leaders and often became political officeholders
called for brotherhood of man and special destiny of former slaves as Children of Israel
THE AMERICAN WEST AND THE GUILDED AGE
THE FATE OF THE INDIANS
- Although there were provisions for a permanent Indian country (which was written into federal law and ratified
by various tribes), In late 1850s, settlement increased Indians did their best to resist (example: Apaches in
South-west, Cheyennes and Arapahos in Colorado, Sioux in Wyoming and Dakota hoped if they resisted
enough, whites would get tired of struggle
- Reasoning wasnt irrational Civil war exhausted country federal government instead formulate new
reservation policy to deal with western Indians
- Indian removal progressed to the point where the white men tried to wean the Indians from their way of life
1867: peace commission to end fighting western Indians to cede their land and move to reservations and under
the Office of Indian Affairs, where they would be wards of the government until they learned to walk on the
white mans road
- Government had two extensive areas: South-western quarter of Dakota Territory (to Teton Sioux tribes) and
Oklahoma to southern plain Indians and the 5 Civilized tribes: Choctaws, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Creeks and
Seminoles and scattered reservations went to Apaches, Navajos, Utes and mountain Indians in Rockies Indian
resist was inevitable
- Even though U.S. Army was thin due to the Civil War, there were still enough soldiers and the government had
better technology (Telegraph communications, machine guns and railroads) also, government could always
find Indian allies to fight against common enemy tribe
- Sioux and Cheyenne warriors (led by Sitting Bull) gathered on Little Big Horn River Seventh Calvary led by
George A. Custer came on main Sioux encampment on June 25, 1876 disregarded orders and went to battle
(attacked from 3 sides in hopes to surprise encampment) his forces were stretched too thin so two groups fell to
defense surrounded and annihilated by Crazy Horses warriors great Indian victory but not a decisive one
- Pursued by military and physically exhausted Sioux bands gave up gradually and moved to reservation (Sitting
Bulls followers were last to give up)
- White land hunger wrecked reservation solution mid 1870s prospectors began to dig for gold in Black Hills
(sacred ground of Sioux) 1877 Sioux resistance crumbled and federal agents forced tribes to cede the land
- White homesteaders coveted the fertile Indian territory of Oklahoma Boomer movement which was initially
caused by railroads called to open the Oklahoma District to whites 1889, government placed Oklahoma
District under Homestead Act
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Competition for land-grabbing hastened ironically due to avowed friends of Native Americans (After Civil
war, reformers created Indian Rights Association, but had little sympathy for Indians way of life wanted
Indians assimilation of white culture to gain their rights)
Resulted in a calling for division of reservation lands into individually owned parcels with support from
reformers Dawes Act of 1887 authorized allotment of tribal lands (160 acres for each family head and smaller
parcels for individuals) land held in trust by government for 25 years and Indians would become U.S. citizens
Remaining lands sold off to fund Indian education
Sioux among first to bear Dawes Act Federal government opened land to white settlement in 1887 but
government did not gain tribal approval also, drought wiped out the Indians crops beyond endurance (lost
ancestral lands, faced starvation and change their identity)
Indian messiah who called himself Wovoka preached new religion on Paite reservation of Nevada in his
vision, he went to heaven and got Gods word that the world would be regenerated (whites gone, Indians of past
would return and the land would be restored to its natural form) would all happen by spring of 1891
practiced Ghost Dances for that day fall of 1890, resident whites grew fearful asked for military
intervention
Minneconjou tribe chief Big Foot ill with pneumonia, went to encampment at Wounded Knee Creek on 12/8
with military escort when military tried to disarm Indians battle occurred final episode in a long war of
suppression of Indians division of communal lands proceeded without hindrance
THE FAR WEST
THE MINING FRONTIER
- Extraction of mineral wealth became basis for Far Wests Development explosive growth (ex. California)
- Mid 1850s, it became harder to mine for gold in California prospectors spread across West in hopes of finding
gold elsewhere wherever gold was found, that area became an instant metropolis Prospectors made their
own law, regardless of Indian or federal laws informal mining codes created to limit the size of a mining claim
to what a person could work began to use it to discriminate/exclude Mexicans, Chinese and Blacks from gold
fields
- Prospectors times on each site was brief equipped only to skim gold from stream beds and shallow surfaces
deeper mining called for development in capital, technological and business organizations which bought the
prospectors lands entrepreneurial development and large-scale mining rough camps turned into big towns
with opportunities for both sexes: jobs for men (miners) and women (prostitutes, entertainers)
- In its final stage, mining frontier entered industrial economy other metals such as cooper, lead and zinc became
bigger in demand than gold and silver entrepreneurs raised capital, built rail connections, constructed smelting
facilities and recruited labor force
- West miners organized trade unions relations with management (after the depressed 1890s) became violent
1892 in Coeur dAlene, Idaho, striking miners fought with guards using guns Martial law was declared and
strikers crowded into bullpens (enclosed stockades) and strike was broken
- Before the discovery of gold, Oregon (not California) attracted most western-bound settlers during 1880s,
Oregon and Washington grew prodigiously
HISPANICS, CHINESE, ANGLOS
- Economy of Hispanic Southwest consisted primarily of cattle and sheep ranching In Texas, there were familyrun ranches while everywhere else, the social order was highly stratified top were elite beneficiaries of royal
land grants (Spanish) devoted to traditional life of aristocracy, then (with very little distinction amongst them)
were servants, artisans, vaqueros (cowboys) and farm hands
- New Mexico contained law mestizo population (mixed Indian and Hispanic) Spanish speaking and Catholic
peasantry but faithful to village life and farming methods to their Pueblo heritage Pueblo Indians still occupied
much of Rio Grande Valley
- New Mexico was a place where European and native American cultures managed successful coexistence and
Indian inhabitants were equipped to hold their own against the Anglo challenge In California, Hispanic
occupation was harder on Indians (undermined their tribal structure, reduced them to labor and made them easy
prey for aggressive Anglo miners)
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Fate of Hispanic Southwest after its incorporation into the U.S. depended on the rate of Anglo immigration in
California, expropriation of great ranches relentless, even though 1848 peace treaty recognized property rights of
californios and made them U.S. citizens In New Mexico, Anglo newcomers were incorporated into Hispanic
society through intermarriage and business partnerships
- New Mexico peasants required grazing rights on communal lands there were customary rights which were
stopped when Anglo ranchers established title and built fences peasants retaliated: their subsistence economy
relied on division of labor which gave women central productive role in village economy (tending gardens, village
bartering, maintaining households) when communal land were lost, men migrated seasonally to railway work
or Colorado mines
- Some Hispanics struck back for their land When Anglo ranchers built fences in communal lands in San Miguel
Country, New Mexicans organized themselves as masked raiders and in 1889 and 1890, harassed the Anglo
ranchers Still could not prevent themselves from becoming driven into the working class
- All along Southwest borderlands, economic activity picking up (late 19TH century) railroads were built, copper
mines opening in Arizona, cotton agriculture in Texas, fruit growing in California Hispanic population
migrated there, nearly all driven to lowest paying and highly laborious works (discriminated by Anglos)
- Mexican migration stimulated by enormous demand for workers in regions undergoing explosive development
- Chinese were first attracted by California gold rush of 1849 most Asians migrated to the U.S. as indentured
servants but it no longer lawful Chinese came to work as free workers, financed by credit-ticket system
(borrowed passage money from broker while retaining their freedom)
- Once in America, Chinese entered orbit of the Six Companies powerful confederation of Chinese merchants in
San Franciscos Chinatown Most arrivals were unattached males eager to earn a stake and return to their native
Cantonese villages The Six Companies provided new arrivals with social and commercial services they needed
to survive in America: Chinese women worked as servants and prostituted Some Chinese were sold by
impoverished parents or tricked by procurers and transported to America
- Early 1860s, Chinese men labored in California gold fields but was hired by Central Pacific when the
transcontinental railroad construction began many recruited by labor agents and Chinese worked in gangs
(picking and shovel labor) run by China bosses who supervised, fed, housed, paid and cheated the Chinese
- When transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, Chinese scattered
- White workers did not share employers enthusiasm for Chinese In California (where there were few blacks),
there were racism at the Chinese anti-Chinese frenzy climaxed in San Francisco in late 1870s when mob, led
by Irishmen Denis Kearney to persuade Congress in 1882 to pass Chinese Exclusion Act (barred further entry of
Chinese into country) anti-Chinese acts did not stop flow of Chinese immigrants (might have even increased it)
When Chinese immigrants were restricted, Japanese immigrants came and were restricted, then Mexicans
cameetc
GOLDEN CALIFORNIA
- California was modern yet remote from rest of America yearned for a cultural tradition of their own
Bonanza era of forty-niners who were captured on paper by Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) his books
(Esp. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County) encapsulated the entire world of make-or-break
optimism in mine camps
- 1884, Helen Hunt Jackson published novel Ramona story of half-Indian girl caught between two cultures:
intended to advance cause of Native Americans, but placed her tale in evocative context of Old California
Movement to restore missions and many communities began to stage Spanish fiestas and new styles of
architecture California found its cultural traditions in its Spanish past
- All this enthusiasm connected with commercialism exploitation of Californias climate Northern California
boomed yet the southern part was neglected and thinly populated said that Southern California had abundance
of sunshine and lacked malaria, hay fever, loss of appetite publicity mostly work of Southern Pacific
Railroad Southern California established itself as land of sunshine and orange groves
- In 1864, influential Americans urged Congress to grant the state of California Yosemite Valley which would be
reserved for public pleasure/resort 1890, creation of Californias national parks Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings
Canyon 1892, Sierra Club became powerful defenders of Californias wilderness
CAPITAL AND LABOR IN THE AGE OF ENTERPRISE
GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRIAL BASE
- By 1870s, factories common in America In early industries, they produced consumer goods such as textiles,
shoes, paper and furniture: replaced articles made at home or by artisans
- New type of demand grew, powered by locomotives and commercial buildings capital goods now in demand:
railroad equipment, machinery and construction materials: add to the productive capacity of the economy
- New technology for manufacturing of steel central to economic development wrought iron was expensive
1856 Henry Bessemer created Bessemer converter: refine raw pig iron into steel
- Andrew Carnegie erected steel mill in 1872 continuous production of steel technological breakthrough in
steel spurred intensive exploitation of countrys rich mineral resources
- Coal another key ingredient (abundance in Appalachian field) needed in steam engines Americas energy
revolution completed as steam power converted to electric power
THE RAILROAD BOOM
- Before Civil War, most goods traveled by water By 1860, networks of tracks in country east of Mississippi
- U.S. chose free enterprise as method of payment for railroads, but government still played big role provided
financial credit and land grants to encourage interregional development
- Investors who bought stock in railroads enjoyed limited liability: risked only the money they invested and not
liable for railroads debts Corporations empowered to borrow money by issuing interest-bearing bonds (how
railroads raised most of the money it needed)
- Railroad building itself handed over to construction companies persuaded contractors/suppliers to accept
railroads bonds as payment railroad promoters actually ran construction companies: opportunities for plunder
enormous (Ex. Union Pacifics Credit Mobilier)
- Railroad development fiercely competitive and subject to boom and bust vast sums of capital raised and by
1900, virtually no corner of country lacked rail service
- In 1883, railroads divided country into four standard time zones By end of 1880s, a standard track gauge
adopted everywhere Fast-freight firms and standard accounting procedures enabled shippers to use railroad
network as if it was a single unit
- Simultaneously, railroad technology was advancing: durable steel rails permitted heavier traffic, locomotives
became more powerful and capable of pulling more cars George Westinghouse perfected automatic coupler,
air brake and friction gear to control the greater mass being hauled
- Railroads exceeded transportation expectations of industrial economy, but the costs of freewheeling competition
and unrestrained growth were too high for investors Competitors fought for available traffic by cutting rates to
the bone and some were saddled with huge debts due to construction
- Major railroad reorganization due to Wall Street investment banks: picked up pieces when railroads failed
persuaded investors to accept lower interest rates or put up more money and eased competitive pressures by
consolidating rivals
MASS MARKETS AND LARGE SCALE ENTERPRISE
- Most manufacturers used to operate on a small scale and only to nearby markets and left distribution to wholesale
merchants after Civil War, scale of economic activity changed: David A. Wells (1889) believed there is no
other way in which the work of production and distribution can be prosecuted (large-scale enterprise was
inevitable)
- U.S. not divided into many national markets: no political frontiers impeded flow of goods manufacturers had
such a vast and accessible home market for their products Example: meat-packing industry Chicago became
cattle market for country with opening of Union Stock Yards in 1865 transporting livestock to far places
caused rotting Gustavus F. Swift wanted effective cooling system created new enterprise: national company
capable of handling within its own structure all the functions of an industry: vertically integrated firm, absorbing
functions of many small, specialized enterprises within a single national structure
- Americans ready consumers of standardized, mass-marketed goods, but lost the local loyalties which were
prominent in Europe
- Social class was blurred at edges (Ex. readymade clothing made rich hard to differentiate from poor)
- Modern advertising born in late 19TH century with brand names and billboards: active molding of demand for
brand names became major function of American business
THE WORLD OF WORK
AUTONOMOUS LABOR
- No one supervised 19TH century miner
- Miner paid the amount of coal he provided, used his own tools, and worked at his own pace
- This autonomous work style flourished in 19TH century industry (nearly all men) in forms of mule spinners,
puddlers/rollers, molders, machinists, and glass blowers
- In the stop, they abided by stint: self-imposed limit on how much they would produce each day informal
system of restricting output infuriated efficiency-minded engineers To workers, it signified personal dignity
and unselfish brotherhood with fellow employees
- Many working groups had their own history and customs (distinctive, self-contained community)
- Ex: Hat finishers had their own language: shopped means hired, bagged means fired, cried off means
quitting work and if a boy apprenticed a hatter, the boy was under teach
- Women workers found similar social meaning in their jobs most important fact about wage-earning women
was their youth it made it easier for women to accept miserable terms under which they labored, but still did
not lack sense of solidarity/self-respect
- Women workers rarely wielded the craft power that men did: men could hire his own helpers, supervise them and
paid them from his earnings many factory managers put this responsibility on skilled workers when
increasingly sophisticated work called for shop-floor supervision Dispersal of authority common in 19TH
century industry
- High degree of autonomy still had its downs workers who paid his helpers may exploit them
SYSTEMS OF CONTROL
- Technology advances workers increasingly lose their proud independence
- One cause is what Henry Ford called mass production: which led to mechanization
- As dedicated machines (machines set up to do the same job constantly) emerged, need for skilled operatives
diminished
- Employers attracted to dedicated machinery because it increased output (they did not care about workers jobs)
- Frederick W. Taylor: expert on metal-cutting methods: believed that the engineers approach might be applied to
managing workers: scientific management
- To get maximum work from individual worker, you must first eliminate brain work from manual labor and
therefore, it would deprive workers of the authority they exercised on shop floor (workers do simple tasks they are
told to do)
- Managers subjected each task to time-and-motion study by engineer who would analyze and time each job with a
stopwatch workers should be paid at differential rates based on their time Taylor assumed that only money
mattered to workers and would automatically respond to lure of higher payment
- Scientific management not a great success implementing it was expensive and workers resisted the jobanalysis method Taylor still achieved something of fundamental importance: he was a brilliant publicist and
his ideas spread throughout American industry
THE LABOR MOVEMENT
- Wherever industrialization took place, workers formed unions
REFORMERS AND UNIONISTS
- Thomas B. McGuire: wanted to establish a egalitarian society where every citizen can hope to become
economically independent: Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor (1869)
- Knights boasted elaborate ritual and ceremony calculated to appeal to fraternal spirit of 19 TH century workers:
sense of comradeship harnessed to labor reform goal to give voice to the grand undercurrent of might
thoughturging them on to perfect organization through which to gain the power to make labor emancipation
possible
- Knights intended to set up factories and shops that would be owned and run by employees hoped that
American society would be transformed into a cooperative commonwealth little was actually done and Knights
devoted themselves to education instead
- The Trade Unions specified terms of work (minute detail) and expressed the social identity of the craft some
unions emphasized mutual aid
- Earliest unions were local organizations of workers in same craft and sometimes, same ethnicities International
Typographical Union (1852): first national organization
-
Practical job interests that trade unions espoused seemed far from the idealism of Knights of Labor, but both rose
from a single workers culture many workers carried membership cards in both Knights of labor and trade
union
- Trade Unions generally barred women (Knights did as well until 1881)
- Women show workers in Philadelphia struck in support of male coworkers by 1886, about 50,000 women
belonged in Knights of Labor Knights of Labor also grudgingly expanded opportunity for black workers to
join
THE TRIUMPH OF PURE AND SIMPLE UNIONISM
- In early 1880;s, Knights acted more like trade Unions Boycott campaigns against products of unfair
employers achieved impressive results Knights began to win strikes, including victory against Jay Goulds
Southwestern railway system in 1885
- Rapid growth of Knights of Labor frightened national trade unions wanted clear separation of roles, with
Knights confined to labor reform
- Samuel Gompers led ideological assault on Knights pure and simple unionism: Unions should focus on
concrete, achievable gains and organize workers by craft and occupation
- Struggle for eight-hour day presented conflicts for groups: Both wanted shorter working times, but for different
reasons
- Knights wanted 8-hour day because workers had duties to perform as American citizens and members of
society
- Trade Unionists thought it would spread available jobs among workers
- Chicago was hotbed of anarchism (revolutionary advocacy of stateless society) German immigrants/anarchists
called a protest meeting at Haymarket Square: police came to break it up, but a bomb exploded, killing and
wounded the police Anarchists sentenced to death
- Taking advantage of hysteria set by Haymarket affair, employers took offensive: broke strikes violently, compiled
blacklists of strikers and forced others to sign yellow-dog contracts (as condition of employment, they would not
join labor organization)
- December 1886, national trade unions separated from Knights of Labor to form American Federation of Labor
(AFL) with Samuel Gompers as president By mid-1890s, Knights of Labor faded away (never recovered from
defeats at Haymarket affair)
INDUSTRIAL WAR
- American trade unions were conservative and accepted economic order: all they wanted was a larger share for
working people 1890s, employers counterattacked the trade-union movement
- Homestead, Pennsylvania in Carnegies steel mills, skilled men though themselves safe from threat because they
had faith in Carnegie Carnegie decided that collective bargaining became too expensive and was confident that
his skilled workers could be replaced by advanced machinery Left to Scotland and left behind a second-oncommand (Henry Clay Frick) who was to do the dirty work
- Frick announced in 1892 that the company would no longer deal with Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel
Workers: plant already fortified so that strikebreakers could not be brought in entire community mobilized in
defense of union: now not a matter of wages, but a defense of a way of life
- July 6, two barges approached Homestead to take control of steel works on behalf of company strikers
retaliated and battle ensued Pinkertons surrendered and pummeled by enraged women of Homestead as they
retreated Frick appealed to governor of Pennsylvania who called out state militia and placed Homestead under
martial law steel works opened to strikebreakers and union leaders arrested on charge of riot, murder and
treason
- Homestead strike ushered decade of strife that pitted working people against power of corporate industry and even
against their own government
- George M. Pullmans factorys business fell and he fired the workers committee Pullman workers belonged to
American Railway Union (ARU) so ARU leader Eugene Debs directed members not to handle Pullman sleeping
cards secondary labor boycott (forced applied on second party to bring pressure on primary target)
Railroads insisted on running the Pullman cars and this strike threatened entire economy federal government
intervened and prohibited ARU leaders from conducting he strike: Debs and his associates jailed for contempt
strike disintegrated
AMERICAN RADICALISM IN THE MAKING
-
Eugene Debs devoted himself to the American Railway Union that would organize all railroad workers
irrespective of skill: industrial union
- Pullman strike changed Debs Debs emerged from jail a avowed radical committed to struggle against
system that enabled employers to enlist the powers of government to beat down working people Initially Debs
identified himself as Populist was soon swayed to Socialist German refugees brought ideas of Karl Marx, who
postulated a class struggle between capitalists and workers, ending in a revolution which would abolish private
ownership of the means of production and bring back a classless society
- Socialist Labor Party in 1877: When Eugene Debs appeared, socialists were in disarray: American capitalism
went through its worst crisis: Many blamed party head Daniel De Leon and Debs joined in revolt against De Leon
and launched rival Socialist Party of American in 1901
- Debs made Marxism understandable and persuasive to ordinary Americans began to attract native-born
Americans (Ex. In Texas, Oklahoma and Minnesota, socialism exerted appeal to distressed farmers) party also
attracted women activists
- For some radical unionists, electoral politics were unappealing: Led by Ed Boyce and Haywood, Western
Federation of Miners joined with left-wing socialists and in 1905, created Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
fervently supported Marxists class struggle, but at workplace rather than in politics
- Syndicalism: society run by workers through their industrial unions
IDEOLOGY OF INDIVIDUALISM
- Inactivity of federal government, evasiveness of political parties and absorption in politics for its own sake
derived from the conviction that little was at stake in public affairs
- 1887, Cleveland vetoed small appropriation from drought-stricken Texas: though the people support the
Government, the Government should not support the people Governmental activity considered a bad thing
laissez-faire
- Individualism gained support from literature and American Protestantism: Success in ones earthly calling
revealed promise of eternal salvation
- Celebration of American acquisitiveness drew strong intellectual support from science: natural selection
developed by Darwin
- Social Darwinism: survival of the fittest Social Darwinists feared any interference with social processes
THE POLITICS OF THE STATUS QUO (1877-1893)
THE NATIONAL SCENE
- 5 presidents from 1877 to 1893: Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland,
and Benjamin Harrison
- All were all estimable men, yet why did they make no large mark in history?
- Presidents biggest job = dispense political patronage under spoils system, government appointments were
treated as rewards for those who had served the victorious party Garfield Shot (1881), many disappointed in
scramble for office resultant Pendleton Act of 1883: list of jobs to be filled on the basis of examinations
administered by new Civil Service Commission
- Functions of executive branch very modest: biggest job was delivering mail Nearly all federal funding came
from customs duties and excise taxes on liquor and tobacco too big surplus of money than government can
spend: problem in 1800s
- Presidents allowed Congress to make bigger decisions like national policy Congress functioned badly:
Procedural rules often stymied legislative business and neither parties were anxious to get much done
Democrats and Republicans have different traditions: After Reconstruction, Republicans backed away from
interventionist position and party differences of both became muddy
- Biggest issue: Democrats regularly attacked Republican protectionism (Ex. Lincolns high duties that protected
American industry from imported goods) tariff was negotiable issue and was a patchwork of bargains among
special interest
- Issues treated so delicately because the parties were equally balanced Democrats (in retreat after Civil War),
regrouped and stood on equal terms with Republicans by the end of Reconstruction Every presidential election
from 1876-1892 decided by thin margin and neither party gained permanent control of Congress: slightest error
could tip power to either side (political caution was wise)
-
Weakening of principled politics evident in Republicans retreat from their Civil War legacy biggest
unfinished issue after 1877 was plight of former slaves: called for federal funding to fight illiteracy and federal
protection for black voters in southern congressional elections but neither managed to make it through Congress
Republicans basically abandoned African Americans to their fate However, Republicans still has influence
in Congress: Service in Union army gave candidates strong claim to public office (South the same: played
patriotic card as defenders of Lost Cause)
- Campaigns could also descend into comedy: Ex. 1884 Cleveland ran for president, but had fathered illegitimate
child opposing party dubbed him (Maw, Maw, wheres my Paw?) but his supporters retaliated after he won
presidency with (Hes in the White House, haw, haw-haw)
- In midst of mudslinging, issues got lost
THE SUPREMACY OF THE COURTS
- From 1870s, Judicial branch gained more power, becoming guardians of the rights of private property against the
grasping tentacles of government
- Main target of courts were the states rather than the national government states were left with primary
responsibility for social welfare and economic regulation: exercised police powers to ensure the health, safety
and morals of their citizens Question: How to strike a balance between state responsibility for general welfare
and the liberty of individuals to pursuer their private interests
- Most states cut back on expenditures and public services
- Landmark case In Re Jacobs (1885) NY Supreme Court struck down state law prohibiting cigar manufacturing
in tenements on the grounds that such regulation exceed police powers of the state
- Federal judges took up battle against state activism: Courts crucial weapon was 14 TH Amendment: prohibited
states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law last tidbit adopted
during Reconstruction to protect civil rights of ex-slaves amendment huge restraint on states in use of their
powers to regulate private business
- Supreme Court also struck down federal income tax law: said 1895 that the federal power to regulate interstate
commerce did not cover manufacturing
- Supreme Court closely watched the federal government where federal power was undeniable (Regulation of
Railroads) make rights of property not infringed upon
- Judicial supremacy showed the dominance of ideology of individualism
POLITICS AND THE PEOPLE
CULUTRAL POLITICS: PARTY, RELIGION, AND ETHNICITY
- In late 19TH century, politics vibrant part of nations culture: party paraphernalia
- Party loyalty serious matter: Civil War emotions ran high important determinants of party loyalty were religion
and ethnicity
- Northern Democrats tended to be foreign-born Catholics while Republicans were native-born Protestants
according to Protestants, the more pietistic (connected to God) a persons faith, more likely that he/she was a
Republican using the powers of the state to uphold social values
- 1880s, ethnic tensions built up in many cities concerning should education be taught in English?
- Many immigrant groups wanted their children to be taught in their own languages
- Religion also caused conflicts: In many states, blue laws restricted activity on Sundays
- Methodists saw Republicans as party of morality; Catholics saw Democratic party as defender of freedom
ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
- Political life important because of organizational activity it generated parties were run by unofficial internal
organizations (called machines which consisted of insiders willing to do party work in exchange for public jobs
or sundry advantages of being connected
- Machines tended toward one-man rule, although the boss ruled more by the consent of the secondary leaders
than by his own absolute power
- Party bosses treated public issues as somewhat irrelevant: high stakes of money, job and influence made for
intense factionalism
- After Ulysses S. Grant left White house in 1877 Republican Party divided into two warring factions
Stalwarts (followed Senator Conkling of NY) and Halfbreeds (led by Blaine of Maine) Party split due to
personal feud between Conkling and Blaine and persisted because of furious struggle over patronage
-
Halfbreeds represented newer Republican generation that was more favorably disposed than the Stalwarts to
political reform, but was less committed to shopworn Civil War issues
- However, Stalwarts and Halfbreeds really fighting over spoils of party politics
- Machine politics not wholly negative: People who were veterans of machine politics proved effective as state
legislators and congressman (more experience in give-and-take of politics) party machines filled a void in the
nations public life
- Machine politics never managed to win public approval many of nations social elite resented politics that
excluded people like themselves Also, clash of values: Political reformers called for independence and
disinterestedness, opposite of self-serving careerism and party regularity fostered by machine system
- 1884: Republicans who could not stand Blaine who left party known as Mugwumps (pompous of self-important
persons): threw their vote to Grover Cleveland
- Mugwumps: controlled newspapers and journals read by educated middle class defined terms of political
debate and denied machine system public legitimacy
- were Mugwumps reformers, but not on behalf of social justices: wanted government to govern less
WOMENS POLITICAL CRUISE
- Party politics were rattled with male sociability and association with activates considered manly
- Woman suffrage movement met fierce opposition
- Womens organizations fought prostitution, assisted the poor, agitated for prison reform, and tried to expand
educational and job opportunities for women because many of these goals required state intervention, womens
organizations of necessity became politically active
- 1874: Womens Christian Temperance Union: closed estimated 3,000 saloons
- WCTU excluded men: spawning ground for women leaders under guidance of Frances Willard: adopted a DoEverything policy alcoholism stemmed from larger social problems in American society
- WCTU drawn to woman suffrage: stressed moral suasion and personal discipline: claimed ballot was inherent
right of all citizens as individuals, less threatening to masculine pride
- WCTU did not change much, but helped lay groundwork for fresh attack on male electoral politics in early 19 TH
century
THE CRISIS OF AMERICAN POLITICS: THE 1890s
THE POPULIST REVOLT
- Farmers needed organization to overcome their social isolation and provide economic services Farmers
Alliance of the Northwest and National (Southern) Farmers Alliance: Texas branch
- Texas Exchange marketed crops of cotton farmers and provided them with cheap credit, but failed when cotton
prices fell sharply in 1891
- Texas Alliance proposed new idea: subtreasury system that would enable farmers to borrow against their unsold
crops from public fund until their cotton should be profitably marketed (federal government play key role)
Democrats rejected it: Texas Alliance went out in politics independently
- 1892: Peoples (Populist) Party: many women in movement, but few reached high office in alliance
- Populists believed that the business interests controlling the levers of economic system (monopolies, money
power, great trusts) is whats troubling the farmers farmers and workers to form a single producer class
- 1892: Omaha Platform: nationalization of railroads and communications: protection of land, including natural
resources, from monopoly and foreign ownership graduated income tax, Texas Alliances subtreasury plan,
and free and unlimited coinage of silver
- Free silver triggered debate for soul of Populist Party some believed that free coinage of silver would undercut
broader Populist programs and alienate wage earners, who did not want inflation
MONEY AND POLITICS
- Debtors and commodity producers want larger money supply: more money in circulation inflates prices and
reduces real cost of borrowing
- Creditors, individuals on fixed incomes and slower growing sectors of economy dont want inflation
- Previously, government had fixed ratio: 16 oz silver per 1 oz gold
- 1878: Bland-Allison Act required U.S. Treasury to buy and coin $2-4 million worth of silver each month
- 1890: Sherman Silver Purchase: required additional 4.5 million oz of silver bullion to be purchased monthly to
serve as basis for new issues of U.S. Treasury notes
- Panic of 1893 hits: silver burning issue that divided politics along party lines
-
-
-
As party in power, Democrats bore brunt of responsibility for handling economic crisis: demands for relief in
agriculture and labor magnified problems
Cleveland mad matters worse Coxeys Army (group of jobless marchers) arrived in 1894 to appeal for federal
relief: Cleveland forcibly dispersed them and arrest leader Coxey
1890: McKinley Tariff: allows weak revisions to be passed into law without Presidents signature
Cleveland was sound-money man persuaded Congress in 1893 to repeal Sherman Silver Purchase Act and
sacrificed countrys painfully created program for maintaining limited bimetal standard
1895: Cleveland turned to private bankers led by J.P Morgan to arrange gold purchases to replenish Treasurys
reserves enraged Democrats and isolated Cleveland from their party
1896: Democrats repudiate Cleveland and chose new leader William Jennings Bryan great orator
Bryans cross of gold speech ensured that no on could be neutral on the silver issue: Silver Republicans
supported their party while gold Democrats went for splinter Democratic ticket or supported Republicans
Populists accepted Bryan as their candidate
Republicans party leader: Mark Hannas candidate: William McKinley: stood solidly for high tariffs, honest
money and prosperity
Republicans called Democratic platform to be revolutionary and anarchistic and Bryans supporters to be
social misfits who have nothing in common but opposition to the existing order and institutions
McKinley won election
THE PROGRESSIVE ERA 1900-1914
THE COURSE OF REFORM
THE PROGRESSIVE MIND
- Era marked by burst of enthusiasm for scientific investigation- regarding studies of immigration, child labor and
economic practices
-
Institutional economists: criticized former beliefs that the markets were perfectly competitive and perfectly
responsive to supply and demand used statistics and history to prove how economy really functioned and how
without trade unions, the strong wins
-
Progressives also argued against treating questions of law as if they were answerable by eternal and self-evident
ideas
-
Legal Realism: (judges) using ones own experiences, prejudices and logic to give a verdict rather than the rules
of the law
-
Pragmatism: judges ideas by their consequences
-
Progressives prided themselves at being tough minded they infused their beliefs with idealism and framed their
intentions in terms of high principle
-
Much idealism rooted in American radical traditions: Henry Georges Progress and Poverty single tax
movement (advocating a confiscatory tax on unearned value of land) was building ground of many progressives
Many progressives were ex-Socialists as well
-
One of the most important sources of progressive idealism was religion Protestant churches long troubled by
plight of urban poor, but soon blossomed: Social Gospel Walter Rauschenbush went to Hells Kitchen section
of NYC and became activist on behalf of his poor parishioners
-
Progressive leaders usually grew up as evangelists: progressive mode of though (idealistic in intent and toughminded in practice) nurtured new kind of reform journalism realized that exposure of mischief interested
readers (showing bad imagery)
-
Muckracker: journalists who have been exposed to the underside of American life
WOMEN PROGRESSIVES
- Middle-class women first to respond were already foot soldiers for charity organizations and had dedicated
labors Josephine Shaw Lowell believed women could do more than help poor: founded New York Consumers
League (1890)` goal to improve wages and working conditions of female clerks in the citys stores
-
NYCL blossomed into National Consumers League (1899): became lobby for protective legislation for women
and children Muller v. Oregon (1908) showed how the long hours of work affected womens healthy and
family roles: cleared way for wave of protective laws across country erected maternalist welfare system
across U.S.
-
Hull house (1889) established by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr: meeting rooms, art gallery, clubs for
children and adults and a kindergarten
-
From Addams and other woman reformists, idea of suffrage brought up: National Womens Trade Union League
(1903) organized woman workers
-
Around 1910, suffrage activity quickened and tactic shifted: believed that changing suffrage laws state-by-state
was too slow Alice Paul advocated constitutional amendment that would grant women everywhere right to
vote National Womans Party (1916)
-
National American Woman Suffrage Association (which Paul split off from) was also rejuvenated: Carrie
Chapman Catt took over as leader in 1915 NAWSA brought broad-based organization to campaign for federal
amendment
-
Midst of suffrage struggle: younger generation of college-educated, self-supporting women refused to be hemmed
in by the social constraints of womens separate sphere idea of feminism developed: freedom to women for
full personal development
-
Feminists: militantly pro-suffrage, but had no interest in arguing that women would have uplifting effect on
American politics wanted right to vote because they considered themselves equal to men Feminism brought
forth more radical type of woman social progressive: Margaret Sanger devoted herself to birth control: 1916,
opened first birth-control clinic in U.S.
REFORMING POLITICS
- Progressive reformers attacked boss rule of party system, led by Robert La Follette
-
Follette originally a party regular until Republican boss offered him a bribe to fix a judge in a railroad case
separated from the Wisconsin machine in 1891 and became tireless exponent of political reform: go back to the
people
-
Follette believed that key to party reform is to deny bosses power to choose partys candidate achieved by
requiring nominations be decided by popular vote, rather than in party conventions (enacted in 1903
Wisconsins direct primary)
-
Initiative and Recall reforms by progressives were exercises in power politics: initiative enabled citizens to have
burning issues placed on the ballet; recall empowered them to remove officeholders who had lost the publics
confidence
URBAN LIBERALISM
-
Republican Hiram Johnson originally ran for governor of California in 1910 as a reform candidate of states
middle class shifted in the end to become champion of Californias immigrant working class: shift in center of
gravity of progressivism: new form of progressive reform urban liberalism
-
Burning of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in downtown NY (1911) hundreds of young immigrant women
died in the event: 4-year period of labor reform: fire hazards, wages and hours for women and childrenetc
However, chairman of commission was Robert F. Wagner and vice chairman was Alfred E. Smith, both
Tammany Hall politicians established commission, participated full in its work, and marshaled party regulars
to pass the proposals into law (with approval from Tammany machine)
-
In response to Triangle Fire, Tammany conceded that social problems grown too big to be handled informally by
party machines: formed durable ties with middle class progressives who became urban liberals advocates of
active intervention by the state in uplifting the laboring masses of Americans cities
-
Not only altruism that converted republican politicians: machines faced competition from new breed of middleclass progressive who attacked not only city hall corruption but also provided better schools, cleaner streets and
more social services won over urban masses and challenged rule of machines
-
City machines, being pragmatic, adopted urban liberalism without much ideological struggle, but not trade
unions: AFL (American Federation of Labor) strongly opposed state interference in labors affairs Gompers
said that workers should not seek from government what they could accomplish by their own economic power
and self-help: Voluntarism (weakened gradually)
-
Labor movements grew weaker: one reason was that they were attacked by courts, not allowing boycotts and
strikes: justification that the employer would face irreparable damage while the court considered legality of
unions actions
-
Bill of Grievances (1906); AFL demanded Congress grant unions immunity from antitrust suits and injunctions
Unions became more politically active and joined battle for progressive legislation (strongly advocated for
workers compensation for industrial accidents)
RACISM AND REFORM
- Primaries operating in South after Follete were white primaries that served to deprive blacks of their political
rights
-
Democratic reform and white supremacy worked together to build racism of the age: even Republican Party
offered no response
-
In North, racial tensions on the rise: hundreds of thousands of blacks migrated from the South to the North
between 1900-1910: sparked white resentment
-
Attacks on blacks became widespread: few blacks (mostly northern born) began to fight back
-
William Monroe Trotter, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois called meeting at Niagara Falls (In Canada
because no hotel in U.S. would admit blacks) development of the Niagara Movement: defined the struggle for
rights of African Americans first, encouraged black pride by all possible means, uncompromisingly demanded for
full political and civil equality and demanded that whites deny the idea of white supremacy
-
Some white reformers rallied to African American cause: Mary White Ovington formation of National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909
-
Internal disagreements: Niagara Movement broke up, but most of black activists joined NAACP: Du Bois became
editors of its journal, The Crisis, and used it to proclaim demand for equal rights
-
Social Welfare: National Urban League in 1911 united many agencies serving black migrants arriving in northern
cities interracial
-
South: social welfare province of black women, usually forced in churches and schools, but also members to
National Association of Colored Womens Club (1896)
PROGRESSIVISM AND NATIONAL POLITICS
THE MAKING OF A PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENT
-
Theodore Roosevelt a typical progressive (born from wealthy New York Family and went to Harvard): motivated
by high-minded, Christian upbringing
-
Won New York governorship in 1898 clearly showed his progressivism by pushing through civil-service
reform and a tax on corporate franchises: discharged corrupt superintendent of insurance over Republican Partys
objections
-
Roosevelt became McKinleys vice president in 1900 and became president when McKinley died in 1901
-
Moved into his presidency with caution used patronage power to gain control of Republican Party, yet was
uncertain about what reform role the Federal government ought to have progressive without a cause
-
Emphasized conservation in his first annual message to Congress: wanted to make certain that commercial
development was mindful of the public interests 1902 Newlands Reclamation Act: proceeds from public land
sales goes to irrigation in arid regions
-
Roosevelts administration expanded national forests, upgraded land management and energetically prosecuted
violators of federal land laws
-
Miners strike of 1902: Hard coal was main source of heat, so as cold weather arrived, it was urgent to settle the
strike United Mine Workers (led by Mitchell) willing to submit to arbitration but coal operators would not
Roosevelt called both sides to White House and using J.P Morgan as influence, made the coal operators cave in
Roosevelt appoints arbitration commission blamed it on tyranny of irresponsible businesses
REGULATING THE MARKETPLACE
-
Roosevelt most troubled by the threat posed by big business to competitive markets After Depression of
1890s, promoters scrambled to merge rival firms to eliminate competition: trusts greatly increased business
concentration in economy
-
Sherman Trust Act of 1890 had huge potential to stop abuse of economic power: legal principles upholding free
competition were already firmly established anyone injured by monopoly/illegal restraint of trade could sue for
damages
-
Bureau of Corporations (1903) by Roosevelt to investigate business practices and bolster Justice Departments
capacity to mount antitrust suits
-
Beat Alton B. Parker in 1904 presidential elections stepped up on his attack on trusts
-
Roosevelt NOT anti-business regarded large-scale enterprise as natural tendency of modern industrialism:
wanted to punish only firms that abused their power: determined by court (whether an act in restraint of a trade
was unreasonable)
-
Trans-Missouri decision of 1897: Supreme Court abandoned discretionary rule of reason claimed action that
restrained or monopolized trade automatically violated Sherman Antitrust Act (regardless of its public impact)
Roosevelt concerned that court could not distinguish good and bad trusts decided to do it himself
-
1904: United States Steel Corporations chairman approached Roosevelt with a deal: the company would open its
book to BOC and if anything is found wrong, they would privately fix it Roosevelt accepted agreement
because it met his interests in accommodating realities of modern industrial order while keeping his public image
of trust slayer
-
Railroads were problematic Elkins Act of 1903: prohibited discriminatory rates that gave an unfair advantage
to preferred or powerful regulation
-
After Roosevelt won election of 1904, he pushed Congress to pass the Hepburn Railway Act in 1906: empowered
the ICC to set maximum shipping rates and prescribe uniform methods of book-keeping triumph of Roosevelt
as a political operator: maneuvered brilliantly against determined opposition and came out with essentials of what
he needed
-
Emergence of muckraking journalism led to protection of consumers Upton Sinclairs Jungle Pure Food
and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act (1906)
-
Roosevelt introduced idea of Square Deal in his 1904 presidential campaign when companies abused their
corporate power, the government would intercede to assure ordinary Americans a square deal
THE FRACTURING OF REPUBLICAN PROGRESSIVISM
-
Roosevelt struggled to bring modern corporate economy under public control chose his successor as William
Howard Taft
-
Taft acted basically as a conservative (disliked give-and-take of politics, revered process of law, distrusted
poweretc)
-
Tafts Democratic opponent in 1908 campaign of Jennings (third failed attempt)
-
1909: ferment of reform unsettled Republican party: conservatives were girding themselves against further loses
and progressive Republicans were rebellious felt that Roosevelt was too lenient on business
-
Taft approved Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act (1909): lowering tariffs on certain goods entering the U.S
-
Pinchot-Ballinger affair: U.S. Chief Forester Pinchot accused Secretary of Interior Ballinger of conspiring to
transfer Alaskan public land (rich in resources) to private syndicate: Pinchot aired these charges and Taft fired
him in 1910 Progressives saw Taft as being a person bent on plundering nations resources
-
House of Representatives revolt and break dictatorial speaker Canon in 1910: defeat for President as well:
reformers in Republican Party called themselves Progressives or Insurgents
-
Progressives formed National Progressive Republican League (1911) La Follette as leader
-
Taft did not want to distinguish good and bad trusts like Roosevelt did trusted the written law and the
arbitration of the courts (rule of reason) Prosecuted United States Steel for acquiring Tennessee Coal and Iron
Company in 1907, which Roosevelt allowed attack on Roosevelt that he could not ignore called for New
Nationalism in 1910: human welfare vs. property rights: property had to be controlled to whatever degree the
public welfare may require it
-
Roosevelt took up cause of social justice, regulation of labor laws, national minimum wage for women said
courts stood in way of reform
-
1912: Roosevelt announced his candidacy for Presidency with his Party Bull Moose
WOODROW WILSON AND THE NEW FREEDOM
-
Believed in New Freedom preserve political and economic liberty
-
Wilson had much in common with Roosevelt
-
Wilson won because he got Democratic votes, while Republican votes split on Roosevelt and Taft
-
Underwood Tariff Act of 1913: cut down tariff prices from40% to 25%: intended to spur competition and reduce
prices for consumers
-
Wilson administration turned to nations banking system: Federal Reserve Act (1913): gave nation a banking
system that was resistant to financial panic: delegated financial functions to 12 district reserve banks which were
controlled by their member banks
-
Wilson turned now to trusts: relied heavily on his adviser, Brandeis denied that bigness meant efficiency
-
Brandeis argued that trusts were wasteful compared with firms that vigorously competed in free market
-
Clayton Antitrust Act (1914): Definition of illegal practices left flexible, subject to the test of whether or not an
action substantially lessened competition or tended to create a monopoly ultimately, Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) allowed to investigate companies and issue orders against unfair trade practices
-
1915-1916: issued host of bills that benefited American workers: federal child labor law, Adamson eight-hour law
for railroad workers, landmark Seamens Act
-
Approved Federal Farm loam Act (1916): provided low interest rural credit system long demanded by farmers
-
Ultimately, Progressives brought government back into nations life and laid foundation for 20 th century social
and economic policy
AMERICAN EXPANSIONISM AND WORLD WAR I
THE ROOTS OF EXPANSION
DIPLOMACY IN THE GILDED AGE
- After Civil War, U.S. lapsed into diplomatic inactivity because it lacked any clear national purpose in world
affairs
-
No effort made to keep up with European advances in weapons/battleships American navy consisted of sailing
ships and ironclads
-
During administration of Chester A. Arthur, navy began modest upgrading commissioned new ships, raised
standards for officer corps, and founded the Naval War Range fleet remained small (nothing more than
maintaining coastal defenses)
-
Appointment to foreign service mostly through spoils system Domestic politics made it difficult to develop a
coherent foreign policy
-
Pan-Americanism: notion of a community of American states
-
American interest centered on Hawaii climate ideal for raising sugarcanes: fell under American control as
many businessmen owned sugar plantations
-
1875, Hawaii gained duty-free entry to American market and islands declared off-limits to other powers: 1887,
US gains naval rights at Pearl Harbor
-
McKinleys Tariff of 1890 stopped duty-free Hawaiian imports to US American business planned an American
takeover of Hawaii revolt against Queen Liliuokalani in 1893 and negotiated on treaty of annexation with
Harrison annexation: Before Senate can approve, Cleveland returned to presidency and withdrew treaty: annexing
Hawaii would violate American honor, morality and unbroken tradition against acquiring territories far from
nations shores
ECONOMY OF EXPANSIONISM
-
American firms began to establish themselves overseas: Standard Oil had many European and Asian branches
-
Foreign trade important due to international finance: US attracted a lot of foreign capitals and there was a heavy
outflow of dollars to pay interest and dividends to foreign investors US needed to export more goods than it
imported to balance
-
Foreign trade also necessary because supply became greater than demand due to surplus deflation need to
find more markets to sell in
-
Asia and Latin America represented only modest part of Americas export trade, but was still important due to
specific industries (ex. Chinese market for American textiles) these countries may not have current value, but
had future promise (many felt that China was key to Americas prosperity)
-
Mid 1880s, pace of European imperialism picked up: Berlin Conference of 1884: Africa carved up by European
countries
-
Japan modernizes into major power: Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Japan won victory and started to divide
China into spheres of influence
-
In Latin America, US interests challenged by Britain, France and Germany
-
Panic of 1893: industrial strikes and agrarian protests nations stability at risk, securing markets of Latin
America and Asia became necessity expansionist diplomacy
THE MAKING OF AN EXPANSIONIST FOREIGN POLICY
-
Captain Alfred T. Mahans The Influence of Seapower upon History (1890) key to imperial power is to control
the sea: regard oceans as highways and not barriers
-
Mahan called for canal across Central America to connect Atlantic ocean to Pacific ocean guarded by bases in
Caribbean Sea and Hawaii would have to be annexed to extend American power into Pacific (during Harrison
administration)
-
Congress funded 3 battleships as first installment for two-ocean navy may be expensive, but was insurance
for Americas prosperity and wealth
-
When Cleveland administration came, they cancelled Harrisons scheme for annexing Hawaii showed its antiexpansionist credentials: Cleveland picked up naval program and persuaded/forced Congress to fund for more
battleships
-
Cleveland rejected territorial aspects of Mahans thinking, but knew where Americas vital interests lay reason
for sudden crisis in Venezuela in 1895
-
Border dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana for years US demanded that it be resolved wrote to
Britain insisting they accept arbitration or face consequences
-
Invoked Monroe Doctrine Britain agreed to arbitration of boundary dispute
IDEOLOY OF EXPANIONISM
-
Social Darwinist theory applied to expansionism spreading belief in inherent superiority of Anglo-Saxon
race In late 19th century, Great Britain basked in glory of its representative institutions, prosperity and
empire: superiority of its people
-
Fiskes Manifest Destiny
-
1890: U.S. Census reports there is no more westward movement of North America: no more frontier to which
land would be conquered: more desire for expansionism
AN AMERICAN EMPIRE
THE CUBAN CRISIS
-
William Randolph Hearst bought New York Journal and was in hurry to build readership elevated Cubas
agony into headlines
-
In America, humanitarian concern for suffering Cubans, sympathy for aspirations of their freedom and anger
against Spain rose superheated patriotism (jingoism) Congress called for Cuban independence
-
Cleveland less sympathetic to Cuba: concerned about Americas vital interests worried that Cuban War was
disrupting trade between the two countries and that Spains troubles might draw other European countries into the
situation
-
Cleveland was fine if Spain put down the rebellion, but his tolerance for Spain had a limit
-
1897: McKinley administration adopted same pragmatic line: McKinley motivated by U.S as dominant Caribbean
power tougher on Spaniards because he was appalled by their uncivilized conduct in Cuba
-
September 1897: American minister in Madrid informed Spanish government that it was time to put down this
destructive war said US would take necessary measures to ensure war is stopped: seemed to work
-
Conservative regime fell and a liberal government rose in Cuba in October 1897, moderating Cuban policy
Spain recalled General Weyler and offered Cuba a degree of self-rule but not independence Madrids
incapacity soon became clear
-
January 1898: Spanish loyalists in Havana rioted against offer of autonomy Cuban rebels on other hand,
wanted full independence
-
February 1898: Hearsts New York Journal published private letter of Dupuy de Lme (Spanish minister) to US
Lme called McKinley weak and suggested that the Spanish government was not taking American demands
seriously: De Lme reigned, but damage was done
-
US battlecruiser Maine blew up and sank in Havana harbor McKinley kept his head and assumed it was
accident, but report suggested the sinking was caused by a mine however, no evidence linked the Spanish to
the mine McKinley not swept with crowds to avenge the Maine
-
March, McKinley cabled Madrid and told them there was an immediate armistice in 6 months, abandonment of
practice of reconcentration, and with US as mediator, peace negotiations with the rebels Spain rejected these
demands
-
April, McKinley asked Congress for authority to intervene and end fighting in Cuba: in the name of humanity and
American interests War Hawks in Congress chafed under his cautiousness McKinley defeated them on
crucial issue of recognizing the rebel republican government, which would have greatly reduced the
administrations freedom of action in dealing with Spain
-
Amendment by Senator Teller disclaiming an intention by the US to take over Cuba However, McKinley saw
war as opportunity to keep all we get
THE SPOILS OF WAR
-
Spain declared war on April 1898 Roosevelt resigned as assistant secretary of navy and commissioned to
lieutenant colonel in voluntary cavalry regiment (Rough Riders)
-
Food was bad, sanitation was worse, rifles in short supply, no means of getting troops to Cuba still, army
formed as civilians were trained to soldiers
-
Navy in better shape Spain could not match Americas cruisers Commodore Deweys small Pacific fleet
sailed from Hong Kong toward Philippines: where decisive engagement of war took place: May, American ships
destroy Spanish fleet in Manila Bay
-
Wanted Philippine base to have some anchor in western Pacific: Hawaiis situation resolved as its annexation
went through Congress in July 1898: became halfway station on way to Philippines
-
Navy also waned Guam, Spanish island in the Marianas and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean
-
Campaign in Cuba was anticlimactic Santiago, where Spanish fleet was anchored was key to military
campaign US walked in with a ill-trained army
-
Main battle in July 1 occurred near Santiago (San Juan Hill)
-
Roosevelts dismounted Rough Riders seized Kettle Hill Spaniards retreated to well-fortified second line
US had heavy casualties
-
Cervaras fleet in Santiago attempted to run American blockade in daylight and was destroyed Spanish forces
realized Santiago could not be saved and surrendered
-
Two nations signed armistice where Spain agreed to liberate Cuba and cede Puerto Rico and Guam to US
THE IMPERIAL EXPERIMENT
-
Original intention by Lodge and Mahan was to keep only Manila Island, but it was soon apparent that you needed
Luzon in order to defend Manila.
-
McKinley saw three options: return most of island to Spain (dishonorable and cowardly), to partition Philippines
with one or more of the Great powers (bad business for the US to give Philippines to the Orient- commercial
rivals), or to grating Philippines independence
-
McKinley believed that leaving Philippines by themselves like they did for the Cubans would result in anarchy
-
Treaty of Paris: Spain ceded Philippines to US for $20 million: ratified by Senate in 1899 with only single vote to
spare signed revival of antiexpanionist tradition
-
Opponents of treaty in Senate invoked republican principles: Federal government has no authority to acquire
territories and hold onto them as colonies, and making the Filipinos American citizens is equally unacceptable
-
November 1898: formation of first Anti-Imperialist leagues never developed a popular movement because they
only shared their anti-imperialist feelings (people such as Carnegie, Gompers, Mugwump reformers)
-
February 1899 (2 days before Senate ratification), fighting broke out between American and Filipino patrols on
edge of Manila: confronted by annexation, Aguinaldo asserted his nations independence and turned his guns
towards American forces
-
US used reconcentration techniques used by Spaniards in Cuba to relocate people into towns, attacking beyond
the perimeters and burning crops and villages
-
Fighting ended in 1902 and William Howard Taft set up a civilian administration: to make Philippines a model of
American road-building and sanitary engineering
-
McKinley beat Bryan in 1900 elections: showed Americas satisfaction with oversea adventures, yet no one
anticipated brutal methods needed to subdue Filipino guerrillas constitutional issues to be resolved: did
inhabitants automatically become US citizens? Does Constitution extend to the acquired territories? Supreme
Court ruled no to both in 1901: Congress has to decide this
-
1916: Jones Act: officially US to granting Philippine independence, with no set date
ONTO THE WORLD STAGE
A POWER AMONG POWERS
-
Roosevelt President after assassination of McKinley in 1901 believed it was important to uphold countrys
honor in community of nations and protect it again backwards people sympathized with European
imperialism believed in American responsibility in helping to maintain balance of power
-
Cornerstone of Roosevelts thinking was Anglo-American amity
-
Hay-Pauncefote Agreement (1901): Great Britain gave up their treaty rights to participate in any Central
American canal project: clearing way for a canal under exclusive US control 1903, last of US-Canada border
disputes (Columbia and Alaska) were settled
-
No Anglo-American alliance, but friendship was firm Roosevelt believed nations strength was more important
than goodwill: battleship program launched
-
Since British gave-up their joint canal rights, Roosevelt needed to lease from British Columbia the land across
Panama: Furious when Columbian legislation voted down proposed treaty independence movement brewing in
Panama: US lent covert assistance to ensure bloodless revolution against Columbia
-
November 1901, US recognized Panama and received a renewable lease on a canal zone
-
Opened in 1914 gave US a commercial and strategic position in Western Hemisphere
-
Wanted to make Caribbean basin secure: believed that instability in Caribbean invited the intervention of
European powers 1904, announced that US would act as policeman of region Roosevelt Corollary to
Monroe Doctrine: unilateral declaration
-
Condition of Cubas independence was 1902 Platt amendment: gave US right to intervene is Cubas independence
or internal order was threatened
THE OPEN DOOR IN ASIA
-
In China, occupying forces quickly instituted discriminatory trade regulations in their zones of control US
fearful of being frozen out: U.S Secretary of State Hay sent open-note claiming the right of equal trade access
-
When Boxers rebelled in China against foreigners in 1900, US joined multinational campaign to break Boxers
siege took it as opportunity to asset that China would be preserved as territorial and administrative entity =
free access for US to China market
-
Britain, Germany, France and Russia not inclined to defer to American interests and Japan had its own vital
interests Roosevelt saw bigger threat than Chinas market
-
Japan unveiled its military strength in Sino-Japanese War and provoked by Russian rivalry in Manchuria and
Korea, attacked tsars fleet in Port Arthur in 1905
-
Roosevelt admired the Japanese: approved of Japans protectorate over Korea in 1905 and its declaration of full
sovereignty 6 years later: anti-Asian feelings in California complicated Roosevelts efforts: 1906, San Franciscos
school board segregated Asian students infuriated Japan
-
1907 Gentlemens agreement Japan agreed to restrict immigration to US still some tension between Japan
and US
-
Roosevelt increased naval strength in Pacific to balance those of Japan Root-Takahira Agreement confirmed
status quo in Pacific, as well as principles of free oceanic commerce and equal trade opportunity in China
-
William Howard Taft entered White House in 1909: pressed for larger role for American investors (esp. railroad
construction) in China Dollar Diplomacy: aggressive coupling of American political and economic interests
abroad
-
Taft hoped that American capital would counterbalance Japanese power and increase commercial opportunities
-
Chinese Revolution of 1911 overthrew Manchu dynasty: Taft supported victorious Chinese Nationalists who
wanted to modernize their country and liberate it from Japanese domination: US entered in rivalry with Japan
WILSON AND MEXICO
-
Woodrow Wilson president in 1913: did not like dollar diplomacy because he believed it bullied weaker countries
financially and gave undue advantage to American business
-
Believed that US should conduct its own foreign policy in conformity with its democratic principles: Mexico
became primary object of Wilsons ministrations
-
Revolution in Mexico began in 1911: dictator Porfirio Diaz overthrown by Francisco Madero who had same ideas
as Wilson (liberty and constitutionalism) murdered in 1913 by his general Victoriano Huerta
-
Wilson called Huerta a murderer and pledged to force him out justification for intervening in Mexico (for its
own god) Wilson said he merely wanted to put Mexican revolution back on the constitutional path started by
Madero
-
Emergence of opposition under Venustiano Carranza strengthened Wilsons point: Carranza had no desire for
American intrusion; vowed to fight against any intrusion
-
Carranza wanted US to recognize Constitutionalists belligerent status: 1914, bought US weapons Clear that
Huerta was not about to fall: Wilson ordered occupation of port of Veracruz on 1914: Huertas regime about to
crumble and Carranza condemned US
THE GATHERING STORM IN EUROPE
-
Europe drifting toward world war
-
Rivalry between Germany (new military and economic superpower of Europe, threatening other states)
-
Frances humiliation in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870
-
Balkans (where Ottoman empire was disintegrating) was being attempted to become dominated by AustriaHungary and Russia
-
Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (Triple Alliance) vs. Dual Alliance (France and Russia)
-
Tensions in Europe partially released by European imperial adventures, esp. those of France in Africa and Russia
I Asia
-
Britain joined France and Russia in 1904 and formed the Triple Entente in 1907
-
Theodore Roosevelt was president and took lively interest in European affairs and was eager to make contribution
to cause of peace
-
Previous Anglo-French entente was based partially on agreement over spheres of influence in North Africa:
Sudan went to Britain, Morocco to France Germany challenges France over Morocco and Germanys ruler,
Kaiser Wilhelm turned to Roosevelt for help, who arranged an international conference in 1906 (Algeciras, Spain)
crisis was defused Germany got concessions, and France keeps Moroccos rule
-
Algeciras marked turning point: first time the power blocs had conflict believed that USs role among the
Great Powers would be to become the apostle of peace (lack of selfish interest in European affairs) opposed by
Americas traditional isolationism
-
Hague Peace Conference of 1899: formed Permanent Court of Arbitration that offered new hope for peaceful
settlement of international disputes: Both Roosevelt and Taft administrations negotiated arbitration treaties with
other countries and pledged to submit their disputes to the Hague Court treaties emasculated by Senate
unwilling to permit any erosion of the nations sovereignty
-
When Wilson was president, he chose Bryan to be his Secretary of State Bryan devoted himself to cooling
off treaties with other countries as tensions reached breaking points in 1914, US remained effectively on
sidelines
THE GREAT WAR, 1914-1918
WAR IN EUROPE
-
War was sparked by Austria-Hungary and Russias competition for power and influence in the Balkans when
Austria seized provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, Russia and Serbia were enraged
-
June 28, 1914: Bosnian student Gavrilo Princip assassinated Franz Ferdinand (heir to Austro-Hungarian throne)
Austria-Hungary blamed assassination on Serbia and declared war on July 28 Russia mobilized its army to
help Serbia Germany responds by declaring war against Russia and France by invading neutral Belgium
Great Britains commitment to Belgian neutrality forced it to declare war on Germany in August 4
-
Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, Japan, Russia and in 1915, Italy) vs. Central Powers (Germany, AustriaHungary, Turkey and in 1915, Bulgaria)
-
Conflict spread beyond Europe: affected Middle East, Africa and China
-
First modern war where extensive harm was done to civilian populations New military strategies, most of it
influenced by US soldiers carried long-range, high-velocity rifles and machine guns were used
-
From 1914 to 1918, Allies and Central Powers faced each other on the Western Front: narrow swath of territory in
Belgium and northern France: heavily fortified by trenches and barbed wires: area between trenches called no
mans land
THE PERILS OF NEUTRALITY
-
Wilson asserted that American would remain neutral (in thought and action) during the war wanted nation out
of war partly because he wanted to be arbitrator in settlement
-
Americans felt deep cultural ties to the Allies (esp. Britain and France), yet many Irish resented Britains
occupation of their homeland and cancellation of Home Rule in 1914
-
Pro-German sentiments drew from Americas many German immigrants
-
Many Americans had no strong sympathy for either sides: Progressive leaders (Democratic and Republican)
opposed American participation in European conflict, Pacifist groups (American Union against Militarism and
Womens Peace Party founded in 1915) mobilized popular opposition, Eugene Debs and Socialist Party
condemned war as imperialistic, African American leaders saw it as a war for white race, and many industrialists
bankrolled anti-war activities
-
US wished to assert its neutrality rights: trade with nations on both sides of conflict end of August 1914,
British imposed naval blockade on Central Powers (hoping to cut off military supplies and starve Germany into
submission) prevented US from trading with Germany: US didnt complain since their increased trading with
the Allies made up for their loss of trade with Central Powers: US closer ties with Allies besides neutrality
-
German navy launched U-boat in response to British blockade: Germany embassy warned US that all boats with
flags of Allies were liable for destruction: May 7, U-boat torpedoed British luxury liner Lusitania, killing 1,198
people (128 American) tensions between US and Germany until Germany said in September that it would no
longer attack passenger ships without warning
-
Lusitania crisis made Wilson rethink about his stance of neutrality and was further discouraged by his failures in
1915 and 1916 to mediate an end to this conflict
-
Election of 1916: Republicans nominated Supreme Court Justice Charles Evan Hughes while Democrats
nominated Wilson with logo he kept us out of war Wilson wins
-
January 31, 1917: Germany announced the resumption of unrestricted submarine welfare US broke off
diplomatic relations with Germany in February
-
Zimmermann telegraph: Newspapers published intercepted message between Germany and Mexico: If Mexico
joins Central Power, Germany will help it reclaim Texas, New Mexico and Arizona
-
U-boats attacked American ships without warning: April 1917, Wilson declares war against Germany rights of
nation trampled and his citizens and trades were in peril Americans believed US had no selfish claims in going
to war (still retained mentality of Progressive Era, exceptionalism, right to intervene social injustices
OVER THERE
-
Americans surprised that US intended to send troops to Europe (expected it only to be of military and economic
aid)
-
US needed more men (never entered global war) turned to conscription
-
May 1917: Selective Service Act: gave President right to draft people no riots because it combined central
direction from Washington with local administration/civilian control did not impede on individuals freedom
and local autonomy as much
-
Wilson chose General Pershing to head American Expeditionary Force (AEF) army did immediately fight :
First contribution: protecting the sea (power in numbers)
-
Allied commanders needed Americans in trenches but Pershing reluctant to put his army under foreign control
burden put more on France and Britain as Eastern Front collapsed after Russian Revolution in November 1917
Treaty of Bret-Litovsk: Russia gave away territories (Russian Poland, Ukraine, Baltic provinces) in return for end
to hostilities Germany launched major offense on Western Front Pershing finally sent troops to help France
in battles of Chteau-Thierry and Belleau Wood Meuse-Argonne campaign pushed Germany back and broke
German defenses
-
World War I ended November 11, 1918 when German and Allied representatives signed armistice American
troops/supplies helped secure the Allied victory US emerges as a world power
-
Many soldiers did not experience the Western front directly 1919 some former AEF officers formed the
American League: preserve memories and incidents of our association in the great war
-
Blacks were enlisted as means of proving their loyalty and achieving first-class citizenship continuously
discriminated against: worked in war as laborers, messboys, stevedores and worked in segregated units
WAR ON THE HOME FRONT
MOBILIZATION
-
Government paid for war in part by using Federal Reserve system (established 1913)
-
Much of fund came from loans (esp. liberty bonds) Treasury Secretary McAdoo encouraged sales of bond as
support for war and increased federal income tax
-
War Revenue Bills of 1917 and 1918 transformed tax into foremost method of federal fund raising: tax of
wealthy and corporations; less on wages and salaries
-
Federal government took collaborative rather than coercive approach to big business during war government
suspended antitrust acts to encourage cooperation and promote efficiency of businesses during war: for economic
expertise, administrations turned to nations business leaders
-
War Industries Board (WIB) in 1917: central agency for mobilizing wartime industry produced unparalleled
expansion of the federal governments economic powers: allocated scarce resources, gathered economic data and
statistics, controlled flow of raw materials, orders conversion from peacetime to war production, set prices,
imposed efficiency and standardization procedures and coordinated purchasing reorganized board under
Bernard Baruch (Wall street financier): war profits produced economic boom under 1920
-
Reliance on voluntarism shown best through Food Administration (1917) led by Herbert Hoover encouraged
farmers to expand production of wheat and other grains: government did not contemplate domestic food rationing
but Hoover sent women volunteers to secure housewives cooperation in observing wheatless Mondays,
meatless Tuesdays, porkless Thursdays and Saturdays: conservation of food
-
In response to severe winter of 1917-1918, Fuel Administration ordered all factories east of Mississippi River to
shut down in four days (coal shortages in north east)
-
When massive railroad traffic snarl interfered with transport of troops, Railroad War Board took over railroads:
guaranteed railroad owners standard return equal to their average earnings government fulfilled its pledge
-
Signing of armistice in November US scrambled to dismantle wartime controls
-
Wilson disbanded WIB on January 1919 did not want government planning power to be permanent feature of
economy
-
War left entire industries more organized than ever before, liked to government agencies and executive
departments Modern system of income taxation was established (potential for vastly increasing federal
reserves) and collaboration between business and government mutually beneficial
-
Acute Labor shortages, demands of draft, decline in European immigration and urgency of war production
enhanced workers bargaining power National War Labor Board (NWLB) in 1918 helped improve labors
position: established 8-hour day for war worker with overtime and endorsed equal pay for women workers;
workers not allowed to strike during war production: In return, NWLB supported workers rights to organize
unions, required employers to deal with shop committees and arbitrated labor disputes
-
NWLBs actions made AFL membership grow NWLB disbanded and wartime inflation ate up wage hikes and
postwar antiunion movement caused rapid decline in union memberships
-
Northern factories actively recruited African-Americans: Great Migration from the South although they still
faced discrimination, they found new opportunities and escaped from repressive southern agricultural system
Mexican-Americans also found new opportunities Wartime labor prompted many Mexicans to leave farm
labor for industrial jobs in southwestern cities: more Mexicans crossed the border
-
Women got jobs opened to them that were formerly only for men
-
All believed that job opportunities would return to white men after war
PROGRESSIVE REFORM IN WARTIME
-
Supporters of womens suffrage believed war would bring reform National American Women Suffrage
Association (NAWSA) lobbied for woman suffrage amendment to constitution labored to conserve food and
provide emergency relief believed that patriotic service would advance cause of womens suffrage
-
National Womans Party (NWP) were arrested and went on hunger strike in prison Public shocked at
treatment of women
-
August 1920, women given the right to vote
-
Reformers pushed for wide range of social reforms: government led campaign against STDs, began sex education
program and addressed welfare of children (WCND)
-
Temperance advocates equated alcohol to major sins of life (prostitution, crime, immigration) used wartime to
relate beer with Germany beer drinking unpatriotic
-
18th Amendment showed how progressive reform efforts benefited from war
PROMOTING NATIONAL UNITY
-
April 1917 formation of CPI (Committee on Public information) to promote public support for war acted as
nationalizing force by promoting common ideology
-
Propaganda flourished quasi-groups such as American Protective League
-
One Hundred Percent Americanism: insisted on conformity and intolerant of dissent
-
Anti-German sentiment grew sauerkraut became liberty cabbage
-
Espionage Act of 1917: You cannot commit any anti-war activities and allowed federal government to ban
treasonous materials from mails
-
Sedition Act of 1918: You cannot criticize/speak badly of U.S, uniform or flag
-
Court decisions ruled that if there is a clear and present danger to the country, the freedom of speech can be
revoked
AN UNSETTLED PEACE, 1919-1920
THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES
-
1917: Wilson proposed peace without victory wanted permanent league of nations
-
Allies at meeting in France accepted Wilsons 14 points: open diplomacy, absolute freedom of navigation of seas,
national self-determination, removal of trade barriersetc
-
League of Nations would supervise disarmament and (according to Article X), curb aggressor nations through
collective military action Wilson hoped it would mediate disputes between nations and prevent future wars
-
Scared of Bolsheviks in Russia deliberately excluded its representatives (Germany not invited either) Big
Four led discussion (Italy, U.S, Great Britain and France) wanted to punish Germany and demand heavy
reparations
-
Wilsons idea of self-determination independent states formed such as Austria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Finland, Latvia
-
June 28, 1919 signing of peace treaty at Versailles Wilson presents treaty to Senate: trouble Wilson did
not include Republican ideas in his treaty
-
irreconcilables did not want U.S. to be in European affairs, other senators wanted adjustments to Article X,
which called for collective security measures when member nation was attacked: would restrict Congresss
authority to declare War
-
Wilson retaliated by speaking to masses, defending his treaty still treaty shot down by Congress: US never
ratified Versailles treaty nor did they join League of Nations
RACIAL STRIFE AND LABOR UNREST
-
Many African Americans emerged from war determined to stand up for their rights
-
Black migration + blacks expectancy after service in war exacerbated white racism
-
South, lynching occurred North, riots occurred
-
Riot in Chicago in 1919: Blacks often determined winners of close elections: white enraged Blacks also
competed with whites for jobs Whites bombed blacks, blacked fought back in self-defense and for their rights
-
Inflation after war nearly wiped out workers wage increases dramatic wave of strikes, including police force
Coolidge said public safety has no right to strike fired entire force and was nominated as vice president
by Republicans
THE RED SCARE
-
Many organized labors failed to win strikes because they feared radicalism anxiety of unassimilated
immigrants Russian Revolution of 1917 alarmed Allies that Wilson sent few thousand troops to Russia in 1918
in hopes of weakening Bolshevik regime
-
Bolsheviks founded Third International (Comitern) in 1919 to export communist doctrine throughout world
U.S began to see radicals everywhere: hated Bolshevik Reds
-
Socialist Party and Communist Labor Party shrank during wartime public blamed almost every disturbance
(esp. labor conflicts) on alien radicals
-
November 1919, attorney general began first stage of Palmer raids stormed headquarters of radical
organizations pulled in thousands of aliens who committed no crime but were suspected because of their
anarchist/revolutionary beliefs/immigrant background
-
Faced deportation without formal trial/indictment: Soviet Ark
-
Palmer got overambitious and predicted that on May Day 1920, unnamed conspiracy would attempt to overthrow
U.S. government nation went on constant guard: As 1920 passed without major labor strikes/bombing, hysteria
of Red Scare began to ebb away
-
1921, Sacco and Vanzetti sat on death row for 6 years while supported appealed verdicts: not given fair trial and
evidence was tainted; was not treated fairly because of their status as radicals and immigrants
OVERALL
-
U.S. emerged from war as major international power, economically and politically
-
War system left legacy of stronger federal government and enlarged bureaucracy
-
Nationalism and feelings during war led to climate that was inhospitable to social reforms
THE ROARING 20s
BUSINESS-GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP OF THE 1920s
POLITICS IN THE REPPUBLICAN ERA
- 1920 electron: Republicans nominated Calvin Coolidge: promised a return to normalcy strong pro-business
stance and conservative cultural value
- Republican administrations generally opposed state power to promote progressive reforms, but used federal policy
and power to assist corporations: New Era
- Republicans dominated Federal Trade Commission and ignored antitrust laws
- Department of Commerce, headed by Herbert Hoover believed in associative state with offer of
government assistance, businessmen would voluntarily work in behalf of public interests, benefit country
- DoC offered compilation and distribution of trade and production statistics to American business assisted
private trade associations in efforts to make more efficient major sectors of industry and commerce by
cooperating in product standardization and wage/price controls
- President Harding an honest man died in 1923, fraud and corruption in his administration came to light
Coolidge becomes president; personified austere rectitude
-
Democrats divided: drew support from South an from northern political machines disagreed over Prohibition,
immigration restriction and KKK decided weakly on general opposition to anything arousing racial dissension
- Republicans dominated: support of Protestant middle class, wealthy industrialists, business people, skilled
workers, farmers and northern blacks
- 1924 Election: low voter turnout Senator La Folette ran as Progressive Party, called for nationalization of
railroads, public ownership of utilities, and right of Congress to overrule Supreme Court decisions
- Women increased political activism in 1920s African American women struggled for voting rights in South
and unsuccessfully for anti-lynching law more influential as lobbyists
- Womens Joint Congressional Committee lobbied for reform legislation 1921 Sheppard-Towner Federal
Maternity and Infancy Act: 1.25 million dollars to baby clinics, educational programs, nurse projects
politicians realized women did not vote as block did not listen and cut funds in 1929
THE HEYDAY OF BIG BUSINESS
- Nation suffered rampant inflation after WWI Federal government tried to stop it by spending cuts and
contracting supply of credit produced recession of 1920-1921: Unemployment went up, foreign trade dropped,
prices fell
- Recession short: economy began recovery and soon had budget surplus economic expansion provided
backdrop for partnership between business and government
- Industries created abundance of new products with new techniques of management and mass production: increase
in workers productivity and kept unemployment low enhanced spending power of Americans
- Economys weaknesses income distribution reflected significant disparities small % had 1/3 of all income
- Businessmen revered: Henry Ford embodied individualism and triumph of mass production
- Large-scale corporate organizations with bureaucratic structures of authority replaced family-run businesses
- Oligopolies: few large producers control an industry (became normal)
- Total bank assets rose dramatically as mergers between Wall Street banks enhanced NYs role as financial center
- Most Americans benefited from corporate success got higher wages and better standard of living, such as
workweek and paid vacations However, scientific management techniques in workplace reduced workers
control over labor Welfare of capitalism: system of labor relations that stressed managements responsibility
for employees well-being larger corporations offered workers stock plans, health insurance, and old-age
pension programs primary aim to deter formation of unions
- American Plan: open, non-union shop by businessmen, combined with Supreme Court to limit workers ability to
strike erode unions strength
ECONOMIC POWER ABROAD
- Power of American corporations emerged internationally demand U.S. capital: worlds largest creditor
- Wide variety of American companies sought investment opportunities abroad (China, Japan, Latin America)
- U.S.s creditor status gave it power Germany needed American capital to finance their economic recovery
following WWI and France/Britain needed to repay wartime loans
- European countries had hard time repaying U.S. because of U.S.s high protective tariffs against foreign-made
goods Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922 and Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 advanced long-standing
Republican policy of protectionism and economic nationalism American manufacturers liked high tariffs
because it limited foreign competition: slowed European nations efforts to pay off debts
- 1924: Great Britain, France and Germany prodded U.S. to promote European financial stability: Dawes Plan gave
Germany substantial loans from American and reduction in amount of reparations owed to Allies: not permanent
solution because international economy is unstable
- U.S. continued to look for peaceful ways to dominate Western Hemisphere both economically/diplomatically but
retreated slightly from military intervention in Latin America withdrew from Dominican Republic in 1924 but
remained in Nicaragua and Haiti Relations with Mexico remained tense
- Little popular/political support for entangling diplomatic commitments to Allies/Europeans/otherwise U.S.
never joined League of Nations or World Court
- 1921 Washington Naval Arms Conference: Leading naval powers of Britain, U.S., Japan, Italy and France agreed
to halt construction of battleships for 10 years and limit further building to set ration: 5:5:3:1:1.75:1.75
respectively encourage stability and protect postwar economy from expensive arms race contain Japan
- 1928: Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact: 15 nations signed to condemn recourse to war for the solution of international
controversies, and renounce it as an instrument of national policy
A NEW NATIONAL CULTURE
A CONSUMER CULTURE
- Participation of commercial mass culture not universal some people were too poor to buy bought via
installments especially on cars: booming automobile industry
- Many products made were as result of rapid electrification of homes: also gave women free time
- Most consume products were not necessities advertising industry spent billions to entice consumers to buy
products by appealing images of successful people, or preying on peoples insecurities (body odor, smoky breath)
- Automobile: revolutionized way Americans used their money and leisure time isolation of rural life broke
down: automobility coined to describe cars impact on production methods, landscape and American values
- Mass production of cars stimulated prosperity of 1920s assembly lines
- Success of auto industry: ripple effect on American economy stimulated steel, rubber, chemical and glass
industries to make cars, highway construction became huge enterprise and spurred suburbs, real-estate and
shopping centers changed way Americans spent leisure time, became tourists American Automobile
Association (1902): cars changed dating patterns of young Americans (privacy and comfort)
MASS MEDIA AND THE NEW PATTERNS OF LEISURE
- Movie industry part of popular culture: cost only nickel for working-class audience: silent movies understood by
immigrants who did not speak English
- 1910: movie industry concentrated in southern California: Hollywood: movies began to appeal to middle class
and movie celebrities became national idols who began trends
- Flappers: cultural icon emancipated womanhood against Gibson Girl looks of 1890s (epitome of feminine)
provocative clothing, smoke, drank, bobbed hair minority of women, but idea spread quickly
- Jazz Age: originated in New Orleans but development of radio and phonograph records distributed it around the
world and spread Jazz from New Orleans: improvisational and spontaneous
- Broadcasting: operated for profited (unlike European ones): revenue came primarily from advertisers and
corporate sponsors Americans listened avidly to sports (baseball) and shows: people tuned in
- Athletes of 1920s = baseball extremely popular : Black Sox Scandal of 1919: White Sox threw World Series
for a bribe Babe Ruth of Yankees became icon
- Charles Lindbergh (May 1927) first to flow successfully nonstop from New York to Paris
DISSESNTING VALUES AND CULUTRAL CONFLICT
RISE OF NATIVISM
- Farmers struggled with sever economic problems rural communities lost residents to cities at high rate
people worried that cosmopolitan values of cities and immigrants would dominate culture
- New technology (like automobiles) enhanced rural life and country people were tempted by materialistic new
values proclaimed in the products Many were Catholic and Protestants: alarmed at declining moral standards:
dichotomy of cultural thoughts and conflicts
- Conflicts often centered around question of growing racial and ethnic pluralism: many native-born Americans saw
a radically changed nation within short period of time
- Nativism: mainstream society cannot absorb large numbers of immigrants and foreign customs
- Nativists began new drive against immigration: during Red Scare, nativists played up supposed association of
immigrants with radicalism and charged that European Catholics and Jew couldnt become Americans
- Congress responded: 1921, bill passed that limited number of immigrants to 3% of each national group Wilson
did not sign it but bill reintroduced and signed under Harding
- 1924 National Origins Act: reduced immigration until 1927 to 2% of each national group after 1927, law set
cap of 150,000 immigrants per year; Japanese immigrants excluded entirely
- Loophole: unrestricted immigration from countries in Western Hemisphere: Mexicans and South/Central
Americans crossed border to fill jobs made available by the fewer amount of immigrants
- Nativism brought the revival of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) appealed to both urban and rural folk: most support in
Far West, Southwest and Midwest Klan of 1920s did not limit its harassment to blacks (like before) also
targeted Catholics and Jews succeeded in electing hundreds of Klansmen to public office
-
KKK declined rapidly after 1925: Internal rivalry and rampant corruption revelation that Grand Dragon David
Stephenson (national leader) kidnapped and sexually assaulted former secretary who the committed suicide
LEGISLATING VALUES: THE SCOPES TRIAL AND PROHIBITION
- Debate between modernist and fundamentalist Protestants
- Modernists (liberal Protestants): wanted to reconcile with Darwins theory of evolution and recent
technological/scientific discoveries
- Fundamentalists clung to liberal interpretation of Bible worried about secularism: turned to law to shore up
their vision of righteous Protestant nation enacted legislation to block teaching of evolution in schools
- John T. Scopes challenged the constitutionality of the law Scopes trial soon dubbed monkey trial play on
words with Darwins theory and the circus atmosphere in courtroom
- Originally guilty, but overturned and not allowed to repeal law stayed for 30 more years case symbolized
clash between two competing value systems: showed in times of frivolity, religion still mattered to Americans
- Prohibition involved power of state to enforce social values percentage lowered somewhat after the passing of
the 18th amendment, but illegal saloons called speakeasies sprang up everywhere
- Organized crime supplied ready-made bootleg liquor everywhere: Al Capone Prohibition failing
- Anti-Prohibitionists wanted to amend Constitution: claimed Prohibition undermined respect for law and impinged
on individuals liberties : 1933, 18th Amendment repealed
INTELLECTUAL CROSSCURRENTS
- Many intellectual writers wrote antiwar statements in their works
- Many left U.S.: repelled at the complacent, moralistic and anti-intellectual tone of American life Europe
- Artist and writers fleeing to Europe (esp. Paris) drawn to the promise of modernism
- Modernist movement: marked by skepticism and technical experimentation in literature, art, and music:
invigorated American writing both abroad and at home
- Business culture and political corruption under Harding caused intellectuals to be critical of American society
booboisie: contemptuous term for middle class
- Harlem Renaissance: explosion of African-American music, culture, literature, arts = embraced identity and
expressed it short lived; black middle class and intellectual elite were small and could not adequately support
its efforts: Depression caused it to wither away
- Movements other than Harlem renaissance built racial pride and challenged white political and cultural hegemony
- Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA): black working classs first mass movement: Marcus Garvey
urged blacks to move back to Africa (wouldnt be treated as badly) Garvey ultimately caught for fraud and
deported to Jamaica movement collapsed
CULTURAL CLASH IN THE ELECTION OF 1928
- Democratic party vulnerable to cultural conflicts of the 1920s split between urban machines and rural wing
1928, Urban wing nominated Governor Smith: descendent of Irish immigrant and product of Tammany Hall
voters troubled by his appearance and stance on Prohibition
- Most Protestants did not want Catholic President Smith further alienated
- Republicans nominated Herbert Hoover: embodied managerial and technological elite that was restructuring the
nations economic order won in stunning victory
- Most people expected progress and prosperity to continue when Hoover began his presidency New Era
embodied industrial productivity and technological advances that made consumer goods widely available
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
THE COMING OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION
CAUSES OF THE DEPRESSION
- Started slowly: after 1927, consumer spending declined housing construction slowed
- Inventories began to pile up manufacturers cut back on production and laid off workers, reducing income
- By 1929: economy in recession stock market was symbol of nations prosperity: steadily rising since 1921 but
in 1928/29, they surged forward as market activity was unregulated People bought stocks with down
payments: Black Tuesday when 28 million shares changed hands in frantic trading overextended investors
saw themselves in debt and began to sell portfolios panic ensued and overnight, stocks fell $32 billion
-
Great Crash impacted commercial banks: speculators borrowed from banks to buy sticks and could not repay
their loans bank failures around nation: bank collapse means depositors lost their money many members of
the middle class in shock since many had no other resource to cope with and destroyed faith of those who saw
stock market as symbol of American prosperity
- Stock market crash precipitated Great Depression, but there were long-standing weaknesses in economy that
accounted for its length and severity: Agriculture never recovered from recession of 1920-21 and farmers faced
high fixed costs for equipment and mortgages that they borrowed during war when prices fell after war, man
farmers defaulted on their payments: Farmers were of nations employed workers and it shook economy
- Certain basic industries had economic setbacks during 1920s: Textiles, Mining and lumbering, railroad: new
consumer-based industries were initially successful, but proved not strong enough to lead way to recovery
- Big weakness in economy: unequal distribution of nations wealth wealthy had much more benefits and
therefore accumulated more income than working class: skewed ratio left majority of people unable to spend
amount of money that was needed to recover from recession
- Great Depression became self-perpetuating more economy contracted longer people expected to last
more afraid to spend/invest their money
- Nations banks contributed to worsening condition: many farmers went bankrupt in 1930s (agricultural prices
and income fell) rural banks and urban banks collapses: wave of bank failures frightened depositors, who
withdrew their savings: worsened circulation of money
- 1931: change in nations monetary policy worsened Depression: Federal Reserve System reacted cautiously
initially but soon increased discount rate (interest rate charged on loans to member banks) and reduced amount of
money placed in circulation through purchase of government securities: squeezed money supply, forced prices
down and deprived business for investment rising unemployment and less spending of money
THE WORLDWIDE DEPRESSION
- Hoover blamed severity of depression on international economic situation out of kilter since WWI: functioned
only as long as American banks exported enough capital to allow European counties to repay debt
- By 1931, trade and debt imbalances with U.S. caused most European countries economies to collapse
- U.S. companies cut back production and cut purchases of raw materials and supplies abroad, which devastated
many foreign economics bad European economies resulted in less demand for American export
- 1930 Hawley-Smoot Tariff raised rates to all-time highs: foreign governments retaliated by posing their own trade
restrictions, further limiting American goods and intensifying worldwide depression
- From 1929-1933, U.S. gross national product (GNP) cut almost in half and unemployment rose greatly
HARD TIMES
THE INVISIBLE SCAR
- Blacks, Mexicans and more minority saw their opportunities shrink, seniors of all race faced total destitution and
many middle class Americans experienced downward mobility for the first time
- Depression challenged ideas of individualism and success: work hard, yet their situation worsens
- Many families faced humiliation of going on relief hurt their pride and the amount they received was still low
FAMILIES FACE THE DEPRESSION
- Men and women faced Great Depression differently womens sense of self-importance increased as they
struggled to keep family, while men felt like failures for not supporting their family
- Families economized by sewing their own clothes and buying day-old bread and used heat sparingly
- Spending in depression changed: previously thought luxuries such as movies and cigarettes were necessities
and automobiles seemed depression-proof gas prices remained stable
- Marriage and divorce rates fell during the depression: could not afford either; birth rates fell as well
- Drop in birth rate happened with increased access to effective contraception: 1936, U.S. vs. One Package of
Japanese Pessaries gave doctors wide discretion in prescribing birth control (besides heavily Catholic states)
- Many women underwent illegal abortion: rise in women dying to infection
- Margaret Sanger: heavily encouraged availability and acceptance of birth control
- Many women were sent out to work to support family women encountered sharp resentment and
discrimination in workplace: many just wanted women fired; many states adopted laws stopping women from
working and women and men could not both hold government jobs a same time (restriction 1932-1937)
- Many stereotypical jobs held by women were less impacted by depression: lower unemployment rate for women
-
-
White men and women took jobs once held by minority and few feminists demanded for equal rights
Depression also demoralized children into hobos or female sisters of the road
Many students took college seriously (sacrifice their money) but depression damaged future prospects
POPULAR CULTURE VIEWS THE DEPRESSION
- Many turned to popular culture in order to alleviate pain caused by Great Depression mass culture flourished,
not only entertaining but communicating and criticizing systems in country
- Movies flourished many people went during day when they had no jobs: many movies had sexual innuendos
but stopped after outcry: established means of self-censorship (The Production Code Administration)
- Many movies contained complex messages that reflected real sense of societal crisis: portrayed politicians as
cynical and corrupt
- All of time not spent in entertainment: attendance at religious service rose and reading became popular
HARDER TIMES
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE DEPRESSION
- Many blacks saw depression differently: their situation didnt change because they always felt this condition
- Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU) in 1934 encouraged black and white southern farmers but did little to fix
the falling prices and overproduction that southern farmers faced
- Many blacks continued to face harsh political and social discrimination in south
- Scottsboro Case (1931): White women claimed to have been raped by 9 black men, 8 sentenced to death but later
overturned in 1932, yet 5 were reconvicted and charged to long prison terms gained attraction with blacks
- Along with lunching in early 1930s, it gave blacks strong incentive to head for North and Midwest
- Whites compete for black jobs unemployment for blacks (esp. in Harlem)
- Black shoplifter was rumored to have been beaten by white cops triggered major Harlem Riot of 1935
blacks also angry about lack of jobs and slowdown in relief services: 4 blacks killed
DUST BOWL MIGRATIONS
- 1930-1941: worst drought and national/international market forces pushed farmers to work the soil beyond its
nature limits: stripped natural vegetation and destroyed ecology when water dried up, nothing was left to hold
the soil: huge clouds of dust rolled over plains: The dust bowls prompted mass exodus from plains
- Many from Oklahoma left (homes foreclosed, farms ruined) to west, where jobs were promised in California
- Before 1930s agriculture of California was large-scale, intensive and diversified: key crops were citruses
- Migrants faced hostility from Californians but began filling important roles in Californias expanding economy
MEXICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
- Many Mexican Americans, afraid of foreign competition, left California to go back to Mexico
- Causes: Fear of Okies taking jobs, federal governments deportation policy which fostered racism, loss of jobs
and relief and the close proximity of Mexico
- Many Mexicans established labor activism: Csar Chvez
HERBERT HOOVER AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION
HOOVER RESPONDS
- Hoover asked business to voluntarily maintain wages and production levels to gain masss confidence in
economic system
- After stock market crash, Hoover cut public funds and federal taxes and told state governments to increase their
expenditures on public construction projects: signed 1929 Agricultural Marketing Act, which gave federal
government unprecedented role in stabilizing agriculture
- Raised federal budget for public works and declared moratorium on payment of Allied debts in 1931
- Asked Congress for 33% tax increase to balanced budget: contributed to continuation of depression
- Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) in 1932 developed in collaboration with businesses and banking
communities to intervene directly in economy during peacetime: provided federal loans to railroads, financial
institutions, banks and insurance companies
- Pump priming: Money lent at top of economic structure would trickle down and benefit everything below
- All of Hoovers programs did not help in growing ranks of unemployed and Hoover was stubborn
RISING DISCONTENT
-
Hoover soon became scapegoat for depression Hooversville was nickname for shantytowns
- To mass, Hoover seemed insensitive, cruel and only on the side of business
- Farmers most vocal about their discontent and labor strikes occurred in depression (despite risk of losing job)
- 1931-1932, violence broke out in nations cities, some organized by Communist Party against local authorities
- 1932: Bonus Army of WWI veterans went to Washington to demand immediate payment of their bonuses:
Hoover called out army to disperse former army
THE 1932 ELECTION: A NEW ORDER
- Republicans unwillingly re-nominated Hoover for President while Democrats nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt
- FDR won easily nation still firmly committed to two-party system, so Democrats beat Republicans,
Communist Party and Socialist party
THE NEW DEAL, 1933-1939
THE NEW DEAL TAKES OVER, 1933-1935
ROOSEVELTS STYLE OF LEADERSHIP
- Roosevelt established close rapport with American people Roosevelts use of radios fireside chats fostered
his close connection with people
- FDR expanded role of executive government
THE HUNDRED DAYS
- First problem for FDR was banking crisis: closed all banks Emergency Banking Act permitted banks to reopen
only if Treasury Department inspection showed they had sufficient cash reserves
- Emergency Banking Act was conservative bill that mirrored Hoovers proposals, but FDR approached it
differently: used radios to reassure people that banks were safe
- Banking Act was first of many legislation enacted by FDR and Congress: session called Hundred Days
- Alphabet Soup of legislations passed: Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) refinanced home mortgages,
Glass-Steagall Act curbed speculation by separating investment banking from commercial banking, Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured deposits up to $2500, Civilian Conversation Corps (CCC) sent
men to do reforestation and conservation work, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) allowed governmentsponsored regional development and public energy and Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) established system
for major commodities that provide cash subsidies to farmers who cut production some people exploited it
- Prohibition repealed in 1933 alcohol business booms and people are happy
- National Recovery Administration (NRA) established system of industrial self-government to handle problems of
overproduction, cutthroat competition, and price instability that caused business failures codes hammered out
for each business, which suspended antitrust acts, outlawed child labor and established minimum wage
- General Johnson headed NRA and supervised negotiations for more than 600 NRA codes
- Federal Relief Administration (FERA) in 1933 under Harry Hopkins kept people from starving
- Public Works Administration (PWA) created projects, which allowed open jobs for unemployed jobs did not
compete directly with private companies
- Civil Works Administration (CWA) created jobs for unemployed such as repairing bridges, building highways,
constructing public buildings and setting up community projects (1934)
- Many early emergency measures were deliberately inflationary: designed to trigger price increases to stimulate
economy FDR in 1933 ordered to abandon international gold standard and allow it to rise in value hopes to
increase prices of manufactured/agricultural goods
- 1934, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulate stock market and prevent insider trading/fraud
- Forced all large state banks to join Federal Reserve System in 1942 to encourage centralization of nations banks
THE NEW DEAL UNDER ATTACK
- To the wealthy, FDR seemed like a traitor Business leaders and conservative Democrats formed Liberty
League in 1934 to lobby against New Deal and its reckless spending
- Conservative majority on Supreme Court disagreed with New Deal: said National Industrial Recovery Act
represented unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to executive struck down NRA in court cases
- Many citizens believed that New Deal did not go far enough: many feared poverty in old age because many lost
their money in banks/pension plans 1933, Townshend proposed Old Age Revolving Pension Plan which gives
$200 a month to citizens over 60 to retire, citizens had to give up jobs which opened new positions for others
-
Priest Coughlin disagreed with FDRs plan to nationalize banking system and expand money supply: created
National Union for Social Justice in 1935 to promote his ideas complicated 1936 election
Senator Huey Long gained mass popularity through share of state taxes paid by corporations and programs of
public works only bad thing is Long had a basic dictatorship over LAs state government broke New Deal
in 1934 and established his own national movement: Share Our Wealth Society in 1935: taxing 100% of all
income over $1 million and all inheritances over $5 million, distributing money to rest of population knew it
was implausible
THE SECOND NEW DEAL, 1935-1938
LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Supreme Court declared NRA unconstitutional in 1934: The Wagner Act (1935) offered degree of protection to
labor: upheld right of industrial workers to join a union and outlawed many unfair labor practices used to squelch
unions, such as firing workers for union activities
- National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) protected workers from employer coercion
- Social Security Act (1935) response to Townsend and Long movements provided pensions for most workers in
private sector which was paid out of federal-state fund to which both employers and employees would contribute
established system of unemployment compensation (paid by unemployment tax on employers)
- Social Security Act also mandated assistance to blind, deaf, disabled and dependent children (deserving poor)
- Under Hopkins, Works Progress Administration (WPA) became main federal relief agency through depression
- Revenue Act of 1935 increased estate and corporate taxes and instituted higher personal income tax rates in top
brackets: showed FDRs willingness to push for reforms that were considered too controversial earlier on
- Many of the wealthy and the businessmen disliked FDR for his policies that did not benefit them FDR only
pursued these bills to defuse popularity of Longs Share Our Wealth Plan
- As 1936 election approached, broad range of New Deal programs brought new voters into Democrats
- Republicans realized they cannot directly oppose Roosevelt and New Deal so they chose progressive Landon
accepted New Deal, but concentrated on criticizing inefficiency of many of its programs
STALEMATE
- New Deal began to slid into stalemate Roosevelt attempted to make fundamental changes in structure of
Supreme Court: After court struck down Wagner Act and TVA, Roosevelt proposed addition of one new justice
for each sitting justice over the age of 70: proposal regarded as assault on principle of separation of powers
- Congressional conservatives long opposed direction of New Deal: passed National Housing Act of 1937 which
mandated construction of low-cost public housing and Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which made permanent
the minimum age, maximum hours and anti-child labor provisions
- Roosevelt recession of 1937-1938 was most devastating to FDR: Congress cut WPAs funding in half, causing
layoffs for 1.5 million workers Federal Reserve feared inflation so it tightened credit, creating sharp drop in
stock market
- Large WPA appropriations and resumption of public work projects poured enough money into economy to lift it
out of recession by 1938 Roosevelt decided to purge the Democratic Party of some of its most conservative
opponents as 1938 election approached: purge failed and widened rift in party
- In election of 1938, Republicans capitalized Roosevelt Recession gained seats in Senate and House
THE NEW DEALS IMPACT ON SOCIETY
NEW DEAL CONSTITUENCIES
- New Deal accelerated expansion of federal bureaucracy increased potential impact of federal governments
decisions and spending on various constituencies acted as broker state in 1930s, mediating between
contending pressure of groups seeking power and benefit
- Labor relations became legitimate arena for federal action and intervention, and organized labor claimed a place
in national political life
- Factors of rise of labor movement: inadequacy of welfare capitalism in face of depression, New Deal legislation,
rise of Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and growing militancy of rank-and-file workers
- Organized labor won battle for union recognition, higher wages, seniority systems and grievance procedures
- CIO served as cutting edge of union movement by prompting industrial unionism: organizing all workers in
industry (skilled and unskilled into one union
-
CIO achieved momentum through presence in its ranks, members of the Communist Party also gained success
from recognition that to succeed, unions must be more inclusive: worked to attract new groups to labor movement
- CIO victories in 1936: General Motors recognized their Union, United Automobile Workers (UAW), U.S Steel
Corporation recognized Steel Workers Organizing Committee in 1937
- Labors vitality spilled over into political action CIO allied itself with Democratic Party, hoping to use its
influence to elect candidates sympathetic to labor and social justice
- Despite breakthroughs of New Deal, labor movement never developed into dominant force in American life
Roosevelt never made labor movement a high priority
- Wagner Act guaranteed unions, but never revolutionized working conditions and unions were merely recognized
- White women achieved new influence through New Deal many of them offered positions in Roosevelt
administration: created template for advancing feminist and reform causes
- Eleanor Roosevelt served as conscience of New Deal
- However, New Deal set lower minimum wage for women than for men for same jobs and certain agencies like
CWA and PWA gave jobs exclusively to men: when jobs were given, women placed in traditional roles (sewing)
- New Deal did little to battle racial discrimination: CCC camps segregated blacks and whites and many NRA
codes did not protect black workers FDR refused to make lynching a federal crime
- Blacks did receive some benefits from New Deal relief programs Resettlement Administration in 1935 helped
small farmers buy land and resettle sharecroppers and tenant farmers on more productive lands and fought for
rights of black tenant farmers in South: angry southern whites in Congress drastically cut appropriations
- Some blacks were also appointed to federal office: fairer treatment of blacks by New Deal agencies
- Many blacks typically used to vote for Republicans, but began voting for Roosevelt and turned Democratic
- FDR had effect on Mexican-American communities: prohibited discrimination based on immigrants legal status,
but also encouraged marked rise in requests for naturalization papers
- Many Mexican-Americans joined CIO and identified with U.S. more than with Mexico
- New Deal administrators tried to correct inequities of Native Americans Indians received benefits from FERA
and CWA work relief projects
- Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (Indian New Deal) reversed Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 by promoting more
extensive self-government through tribal councils and constitutions also abandoned attempts to force Native
Americans to assimilate into mainstream society
THE NEW DEAL AND THE LAND
- Concern for land one of the most dominant motifs of New Deal
- New Deal stressed scientific management of the land, conservation instead of commercial development, and
aggressive use of public authority to safeguard both private and public holdings
- Tennessee Valley Act (TVC) established to develop regions resources under public control integrated flood
control, reforestation, agricultural and industrial development hydroelectric grid supplied cheap electricity
- Dust Bowl helped focus attention on land management: farmers taught how to till hillsides correctly
- Shelterbelts: planting 220 million trees running cross roughly 99th meridian from Texas to Canadian border
- Rural Electrification Administration (1935) brought power to farms
- CCC AND WPA built Blue Ridge Parkway which connected Virginia to North Carolina Government workers
built zoos, parks, canals and helped complete Appalachian trail and towers built in government rustic style
THE NEW DEAL AND THE ARTS
- WPA project called Federal One put unemployed artists, actors and writers to work
- Federal Art Project (FAP) gave work to many artists commissioned to paint murals for public buildings
- Federal Music Project employed musicians to tour country and provide free concerts: made sure music had
distinctive American sound which made it appeal to audiences
- Federal Writers Project (FWP) and Federal Theatre Project (FTP) FTP reached popularity
- WPA art projects influenced by artistic trends called documentary impulse combined social relevance with
American themes, and presented actual facts and events in ways that aroused interest and emotion in audience
- Federal government also compiled photographic record of 1930s everything bad about depression
- Farm Security Administration (1937): collect photos of farmer life during depression
LEGACIES OF THE NEW DEAL
- People for the first time felt impact of federal government daily more than 1/3 of population received direct
assistance from federal programs
- New Deal accelerated pattern begun during Progressive Era of using federal regulation to bring order and
regularity to economic life
-
Development of Americas welfare sate: federal governments acceptance of primary responsibility for the
individual and collective welfare of the people New Deals safety nets had many holes: Ex. Social Security Act
did not include national health care and many minorities were not affected by New Deal agencies
New Deal recognized poverty as an economic problem and grafted welfare programs later on
Welfare system allowed organized labor to make itself a legitimate force in modern industrial life, allowed blacks
to vote Democratic and helped women and unemployed
FDRs policies also brought in many middle-class and immigrants
New Deal coalition contained potentially fatal contradictions, mainly issues about race
FDR unwilling to challenge economic and political marginalization in South, but New Deal encouraged migration
of southern blacks to northern and western cities
THE WORLD AT WAR, 1939-1945
THE ROAD TO WAR
DEPRESSION DIPLOMACY
- During early years of New Deal, Americas involvement in international affairs were limited FDR recognized
Soviet Union in 1933 and also developed Good Neighbor Policy (U.S. renounced use of military force and armed
intervention in Western Hemisphere) recognized friendship of Latin American countries with U.S. = crucial
- Neutrality Act of 1935 imposed embargo on arms trading with countries at war and declared that American
citizens traveled on the ships of belligerent nations at their own risk expanded act in 1936 to ban loans to
belligerents and in 1937, adopted provision: if country at war wanted to purchase nonmilitary goods from U.S., it
had to pay in cash and pick it up in their own ships
- U.S. remained neutral during Spanish civil war in 1936 Fascism replaced its republican government
AGGRESSION AND APPEASEMENT
- U.S.s neutrality tested when Japan occupied Manchuria in 1931 and launched invasion of China in 1937
- League of Nations condemned Japan but could not stop aggression its defiance of LON encouraged Mussolini
in Italy in 1835 to invade Ethiopia (complete in 1936)
- In Germany, huge reparations, inflations, fear of communism, labor unrest and unemployment fueled rise of
Hitler: Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933 and aimed for world domination (his book: Mein Kampf)
- Hitler sought to overthrow Treaty of Versailles and restore Germany believed that inferior races such as
Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, and the mentally impaired needed to be squashed for the master race
- 1933: Hitler established first concentration camp and openly campaigned for persecution of Jews he left the
League of Nations and declared that he was going to rearm his military: Britain and France couldnt say anything
because they did not want to risk war
- 1938: Hitler sends troops to annex Austria, while scheming to seize Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia allied to
France Britain and France allowed Germany to annex Sudetenland in return for Hitlers promise to seek no
more territory 1939, Hitler signs Nonaggression Pact with Soviet Russia, which assured Germany it would not
have to wage war on two fronts at once: attacked Poland and Britain and France declared war on Germany
AMERICA AND THE WAR
- FDR wanted U.S. to be neutral in this crisis France falls in 1940 and Britain stands alone against Germany
- Despite isolationist pressure, U.S. moved closer to war FDR began to put economy and government on defense
by creating National Defense Advisory Commission and Council of National Defense
- FDR also traded 50 WWI destroyers to Britain in exchange for right to build military bases on British possessions
in Atlantic Congress approved large increase in defense spending and instituted first peacetime draft
- 1940s election: conflict urged FDR to seek another term; Republicans nominated Wendell Willkie: both parties
pledged to aid allies but stopped short of calling for American participation in war
- 1939, FDR managed to allow Congress to amend Neutrality Act of 1935 to allow Allies to buy weapons from
U.S.
- 1941, German submarines sinking British boats rapidly: U.S. convinces Congress to pass Lend-Lease Act, which
authorized FDR to lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of arms and other equipment to a country whose defense
was considered vial to security of U.S.
- Germany invades Soviet Union in 1941 (breaking pact) U.S. extends lend-lease to Soviet Union
-
-
FDR and Churchill in 1941: Atlantic Charter provided ideological foundation of Western cause and of peace
called for economic collaboration and guarantees of political stability after end of war: supported free trade,
national self-determination, and the principle of collective security
Japan signs Tri-Partite Pact with Germany and Italy in 1940 (forming the Axis) and became expansionist,
occupying the northern part of French Indochina: U.S retaliates by restricting trade with Japan and placing
embargo on aviation fuel and scrap metal 1941, Japanese troops occupy rest of Indochina and U.S. responded
by freezing Japanese assets in U.S. and instituting embargo on trade with Japan
Government of prime minister Hideki Tojo planned bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing 2,400 Americans
infused American people with determination to fight: Declared war on Germany, Italy and Japan
ORGANIZING FOR VICTORY
DEFENSE MOBILIZATION
- During war, federal budget increased and debt grew, but tax collections rose (based on Revenue Act of 1942)
mass taxation were sold to taxpayers as a way to express their patriotism
- Number of civilians employed by federal government increased and FDR administration turned to business
executives to replace reformers who staffed New Deal: called dollar-a-year men because they volunteered
- War Production Board (WP) granted generous tax write-offs for plant construction (war) and promised that
businesses could keep new factories after war preferred to deal with major corporations
- By 1945, U.S. turned out thousands of tanks, planes, rifles, ships and machine guns: huge mobilization gave
tremendous boost to economy: restored faith of Americans
- Racial discrimination prevailed in armed forces and segregated blacks to do most menial duties women
enlisted in arm services and achieved permanent status in military, serving in agencies like WACS (Womens
Army Corps) womens duties were limited (barred from combat) but did clerical work and nursing
WORKERS AND THE WAR EFFORT
- When civilians entered war, U.S. faced labor shortage: War Manpower Commission urged women into workforce
nations factories full of women, but many faced discrimination (such as lower wage)
- Rosie the Riveter: cultural icon, representing working women We can do it
- Wartime mobilization opened opportunities o advance labor movement: representatives of major unions made
no-strike pledge and in 1942, FDR set up National War Labor Board (NWLB) composed of representatives
- NWLB established wages, hours, and working conditions and had authority to seize plants that did not comply
- Incomes were higher: many union members felt cheated as they watched corporate profits soar 1943 John
Lewis led United Mine Workers out on strike, demanding an increase in wages: won concessions but disliked
- Congress retaliated to Lewis by overriding FDRs veto of Smith-Connally Labor of 1943, which required 30-day
cooling-off period before a strike and prohibited entirely strikes in defense industries
- African Americans manifested new mood of mobility: pledged themselves to Double V campaign: Victory over
Nazism abroad and victory over racism and inequality in America in exchange for Randolph cancelling a black
march to Washington, FDR issued Executive Order 8802 in 1941 which declared that there will be no
discrimination of employment of workers in defense industries: did not affect segregation in army
- League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) built on communitys patriotic contributions to national
defense and armed services to challenge long-standing patterns of discrimination and exclusions
- Congress of Racial Equality (CORE): group that used direct action like demonstrations and sit-ins
POLITICS IN WARTIME
- During early years of war, FDR rarely pressed for social and economic change because he was preoccupied with
the war and also because he wanted to counteract Republican political gains: Republicans who dont like New
Deal picking up seats on House + Senate FDR agreed to drop several popular New Deal agencies (ex. CCC)
- 1944, FDR called for second Bill of Rights: extension of New Deal identified jobs, adequate food and clothing,
decent homes, medical care, and education as basic rights
- Servicemens Readjustment Act (1944) aka GI Bill of Rights provided education, job training, pensions, and
mortgage loans for men and women who served in armed forces during war
- FDRs call for social legislation part of plan to woo Democratic voters: 1942 elections, Republicans gained seat in
both Senate and House Roosevelt saw 4th term as being necessary and Republicans nominated Governor
Thomas Dewey: FDR won by very close margin
LIFE ON THE HOME FRONT
CIVILIAN WAR EFFORTS
- civilians worked on civilian defense committees, produced vegetation: encouraged by carious federal agencies
- Office of War Information (OWI) strove to disseminate information and promote patriotism
- Popular culture reinforced connections between home front and troops serving overseas many movies were
swarmed and had patriotic themes: Casablanca 1943)
- Major source of Americans high morale = wartime prosperity: Federal defense spending solved depression
- For many Americans, major inconvenience of war was limitations placed on their consumption: Office of Price
Administration subjected almost everything Americans used/ate during WWII to rationing/regulation
- War affected where people lived: families followed their fathers into training camps while lure of higher-paying
job encouraged others to move California affected most by wartime migration (center of defense production)
- Migration and relocation often caused strains: housing was scare and public transportation inadequate
- Juvenile delinquency problem: latchkey children who stayed home alone while their mothers worked in defense
plants and victory girls who hung around army bases looking for a good time
- Growth of war industries also sent many African Americans to defense centers in CA, IL, OH, PAetc
migrants need for jobs caused racial conflict in certain cities: many blacks felt resistance from current residents
- In Los Angelos, male Latinos who belonged to pachuco (youth) gangs dressed in zoot suits became symbol
of alienation and self-assertion to teenagers, but wartime juvenile delinquency to adults
- Zoot-suiters became target for white hostility: rumors that pachucho gang members beat up a white sailor: 4 day
riot in LA racial tensions widespread, yet German/Italian Americans did not experience intense prejudice
JAPANESE INTERNMENT
- Many Americans (esp. in California) despised the Japanese living there, even citizens wanted all supposed
spies removed: 1942, Executive Order 9066 approved a War Department plan to intern Japanese Americans in
relocation camps for rest of war: no evidence of Japanese peoples disloyalties
- Most Japanese were shocked and had to sell property/possessions at cut-rate prices and sent by War Relocation
Authority to internment camps in Southwest nearly all Japanese involuntarily detained
- Cracks in relocation policy: labor shortage in farming left government to send workers from camps and college
students were allowed to return to school if they transferred out of West Coast military zone some left camps
to serve in army: 442d Regimental Combat Team
- Korematsu v. U.S. (1944): Supreme Court said internment was constitutional
FIGHTING AND WINNING THE WAR
WARTIME AIMS AND STRATEGIES
- Allied coalition composed mainly of Great Britain, U.S. and Soviet Union vision based on Atlantic Charter
- 1943: Churchill and FDR agreed to open front within 6 months in return for Stalins promise to fight against
Japan after war in Europe (second front takes Germans from Russian soil): long delay in creating second front
angered Stalin, who mistrusted U.S. (led into Cold War after victory)
- During early 1942, Allies suffered severe defeats on land and sea in Europe and Asia Turning point in winter
of 1942-1943 when Soviets halted German advance in Battle of Stalingrad and Allies launched major offensive in
North Africa attacked Sicily and Italian peninsula next (fell in 1943) entered Rome in 1944
- Under General Dwight Eisenhower, largest armada crossed English Channel in 1944 and German forces in
Belgium mounted attack (Battle of the Bulge): Allies pushed Germans back to Rhine River and Germany
surrender in May 8, 1945 (Hitler committed suicide) = V-E (Victory in Europe) Day
- Lack of U.S. government to systematic near annihilation of Jews is one of the gravest failures of FDR
administration: War Refugee Board (1944) finally helped save 200,000 (few were allowed into US during war)
- Many factors inhibited U.S. action: anti-Semitism, fear of economic competition, failure of media to grasp
magnitude of story and failure of leaders to speak out
- After victory in Europe, Allies had to defeat Japan: In wake of Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded Hong Kong, Wake
Island, Guam, Burma, Malaya, the Philippines, Solomon Island and began to threaten Australia and India
General MacArthur took offensive in Pacific
- 1944- re-conquest of Philippines began victory in Battle of Leyte Gulf: Japan lost much of their fleet
- Americans won battles for Iwo-Jima and Okinawa: Japanese pilots began flying suicidal kamikaze missions,
crashing planes/boats into American ships
PLANNING THE POSTWAR WORLD
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Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met in 1945 in Yalta, but no agreement on peace to come: FDR focused on Allied
unity but fate of British colonies caused friction between FDR and Churchill
Stalin wanted band of Soviet-controlled satellite states to protect western border: needed friendly buffer zones
FDR saw demand as legitimate, but followed Atlantic Charters principle of self-determination
At Yalta, Churchill and FDR agreed on idea of Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe but left dimensions
vague: Stalin in return pledged to hold free elections at an unspecified time
At Yalta Conference, 3 leaders proceeded with plants to divide Germany into 4 zones to be controlled by U.S.,
Britain, Franc and Soviet Union: Berlin would be partitioned among 4 powers
Big Three agreed that Security Council of UN include 5 major allied powers and 6 other nations elected on
rotating basis: permanent members get veto powers
Roosevelt was extremely weakened by war, died in 1945 Vice President Harry S. Truman took over and
learned about top-secret Manhattan Project, charged with developing an atomic bomb: ordered dropping of the
bombs on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 Japan officially surrendered
COLD WAR AMERICA, 1945-1960
THE EARLY COLD WAR
DESCENT INTO COLD WAR, 1945-1946
- Senate approved American membership into League of Nations in 1945
- Stalin wanted security zone of friendly governments in Eastern Europe around Russia at Yalta Conference,
U.S. and Britain recognized Soviets sphere of influence with the proviso that free and unfettered elections
would be held as soon as possible: Stalin never made a move to hold elections
- Potsdam Conference: main issue was fate of Germany: was already divided into four zones of occupation,
controlled by U.S., France, Britain and Soviet Union: agreed to disarm country, dismantle military production and
extract reparations: conflict over whos sphere of influence would affect Germany
- Baruch Plan (1946): United States proposed system of international control that relied on mandatory inspection
and supervision but served American nuclear monopoly Soviets rejected it: Failure of plan resulted in
beginning of nuclear arms race between Soviets and America
A POLICY OF CONTAINMENT
- Greek communist guerrillas launched civil war against government and British occupation authorities: U.S.
developed policy called containment: Contain communism within nations, do not let it infect
- Truman Doctrine: Contain Communism by giving Greece and Turkey military and economic assistance
- Marshall Plan proposed by Secretary of State George Marshall: construct comprehensive recovery program for
allied countries of Europe: prevent economic crisis, which often leads to communism Also, rebuilt countries
would provide good markets for U.S. goods
- 1948, communist coup in Czechoslovakia: reminder of the spreading of communist persuaded Congress to vote
for the Marshall Plan: did not exclude any nations, but required all those participating to exchange economic
information and work towards elimination of tariffs and other trade barriers: Soviet leaders forbade satellite states
to participate
- Marshall plan accelerated American and European efforts to rebuild and unify West German economy: 1948, U.S.
France and Britain initiated program of currency reform in West Berlin: alarmed Soviets, who imposed blockade
of all highways and traffic to West Berlin: Truman countered with airlift of goods to aid the region: Stalin lifted
failed blockade in 1949
- Crisis in Berlin and coup in Czechoslovakia convinced U.S. policy-makers to get a collective security pact: 1949,
U.S. entered North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): 12 nations agreed that armed attack against one or
more of them shall be considered an attack against them all: agreed to creation of West Germany (joined 1955)
- In response to NATO, Soviet Union created East Germany (German Democratic Republic): also organized
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) and Warsaw Pact of communist nations in 1955
- 1949 U.S. detected proof that Soviet Union detonated atomic bomb: U.S atomic monopoly ended, forcing major
reassessment of nations foreign policy Truman turned to National Security Council (NSC), who
recommended developing hydrogen bomb (more advanced than atomic); also called for increased taxes to finance
massive program of rebuilding Wests defensive potential to surpass that of Soviet world
CONTAINMENT IN ASIA
- In Japan, General Douglas MacArthur was restoring Japans sovereignty and rebuilding its economy in 1951
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In China civil war had ensued for a while, with communists led by Mao Zedong faced Nationalists led by Jiang
Jieshi U.S. did not like either, but had to choose corrupt Jieshi administration over that of Zedong
Nationalists did not reform, even with the massive aid U.S. gave cut off aid, allowing Mao to form Peoples
Republic of China in 1949: U.S. did not recognize Red China: blocked admission into U.N.
Both U.S. and Soviet Union had troops in Korea after WWII: Korea divided at 38 th parallel into competing
spheres of influence: civil war began and in 1950, North Koreans launched surprise attack across 38 th parallel:
initiative was for Korean reunification from Kim Il Sung: U.S. authorized police action against invaders
Initially, North Koreans held overwhelming advantage over U.S. troops, but MacArthur launched surprise attack
at Inchon: within 2 weeks, U.N. forces controlled Seoul MacArthur sought to lead his troops across 38th
parallel into North Korea; ignored Chinas warnings and stalemate occurred at 38 th parallel
MacArthur believed that nations future lay in Asia and not Europe: ignored Trumans instructions and asked
Nationalists in Taiwan to join in attack against China and pleaded to use atomic bomb in China fired in 4/11
Truce talks began in Korea in 1951, but armistice not signed until 1953: Korea was divided near 38 th parallel, with
a demilitarized zone between the two countries: North Korea allied with Soviet Union, and South Korea signed
mutual defense treaty with the U.S. in 1954
Truman called Korean War police action: able to commit troops to Korea without congressional approval:
expanded executive power and set precedent for other undeclared wars Korean war widened American
involvement in Asia
HARRY TRUMAN AND THE COLD WAR AT HOME
POSWAR DOMESTIC CHALLENGES
- Depression did not return after war ended: Servicemens Readjustment Act (1944, aka GI Bill) put money into
economy by providing educational and economical assistance to returning veterans
- Biggest problem: Inflation Truman kept Office of Price Administration (OPA): when he disbanded it, prices
soared workers demanded for higher wages and had strikes in automobile, steel and coal industries
- Truman used executive powers to put railroad system under federal control and asked Congress for power to draft
striking workers into army: pressured strikers back to work seized coal mines to end strike by United Mine
Workers = actions won Truman support from many Americans, but infuriated organized labor
- 1946: Republicans gained control of House and Senate: set about undoing New Deal 1947, passed Taft-Hartley
Act, rollback of several provisions of 1935 National Labor Relations Act: restricted unions political power by
prohibiting use of their dues for political activity and allowed president to declare 80-day cooling off period in
strikes that have national impact: Truman vetoed it in 1947, but it was overrode: his veto countered some of
workers hostility towards him
- 1948 elections: Republicans united, Thomas E. Dewey as candidate: promised to continue most of New Deal
- Democratic party split, each wing nominating their own candidates Truman led strenuous cross-country
speaking tour in which he hammered at Republicans support for anti-labor Taft-Hartley Act: also criticized
Republicans for opposing legislation for housing, medical insurance and civil rights: Truman won election and
Democrats regained power in House and Senate
FAIR DEAL LIBERALISM
- Truman proposed to Congress a 21 point plan for expanded federal programs based on individual rights such as
control over monopolies, good housing, adequate medical care, protection from economic fearsetc
- Fair Deal was extension of New Deals liberalism (faith in positive influence of government), but it also differed
in that its attention to civil rights reflected growing importance of African Americans to Democratic Partys
coalition of urban voters liberals of Trumans era were more moderate than Progressive/New Deal reformers
believed that essential role of federal government was to manage economy indirectly through fiscal policy
- Only parts of Fair Deal won adoption: minimum wage was raised, Social Security Program was extended to cover
new workers, and Social Security benefits increased 75%
- National Housing Act (1949) called for construction of low-income housing, but of proposed amount were built
- American Medical Association (AMA) quashed labor-backed movement for national health insurance by
denouncing it as first step toward socialized medicine
- Many businesses and manufacturers believed Fair Deal was beyond their tolerance: lobbied to defeat specific
parts of Fair Deal, and also forestall increased taxes, antitrust activity, and other unwanted federal interference
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Truman also had to deal with black demands for justice, which accelerated after WWII and continued post-war
Truman appointed 1946 National Civil Rights Commission: called for expanded federal role in civil rights
- Shelley vs. Kraemer (1948): residential segregation by barring homebuyers of a certain race/religion
unconstitutional
- Truman also ordered for desegregation of armed forces and proposed federal anti-lynching law/voting protection
and equal employment opportunity: filibuster by southern conservatives blocked legislation
- Korean War limited chances of Fair Deal being passed by diverting attention and funds from domestic affairs
THE GREAT FEAR
- McCarthyism: intense anti-Communist suspicion in America, after senator McCarthy
- 1938: House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) to investigate alleged fascist and communist
influence in labor unions and New Deal agencies gained popularity in 1946 after revelation of a Soviet spy
ring operating in Canada and U.S. increased fears of Soviet subversion
- 1947: HUAC publicized hearings on alleged communist infiltration in film industry: Hollywood Ten went to
join for contempt of Congress when they cited 1st Amendment and refused to testify about their past associations:
Hundreds of actors, directors, writers labeled as red by HUAC unable to get work anymore
- 1947: Truman ordered comprehensive investigation into loyalty of federal employees
- 1948: former Communist Whittaker Chambers claimed that former State Department official Alger Hiss was a
communist: Hiss denied allegations, but was accused of had expired; not charged with being communist but rather
about perjury for lying to court about its communist affiliations case fueled paranoia about Communist
conspiracy in federal government
- Senator McCarthy in 1950 claimed he had names of 205 men that were known to the Secretary of State as being
members of the Communist Party: gained attention, led anticommunism campaign, also list kept changing (he
was lying) few opposed him because he called anyone who disagreed with him as being soft on communism
- 1951, espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: convicted of pass atomic secrets to Soviet; executed 1953
- 1954, McCarthy launched investigation into possible subversion into U.S. Army: McCarthys smear tactics and
leering innuendos: support for him declined: End of Korean war + Death of Stalin (1953) undercut peoples
interests in McCarthy and in 1954, Senate voted to censure McCarthy for unbecoming conduct
MODERN REPUBLICANISM
I LIKE IKE
- 1952, Eisenhower won elections status as war hero his greatest political asset
- Eisenhower attacked Democrats with K1C2 formula: Korea, Communism and Corruption: promised to end
stalemate in Korea news that Californians set up a secret slush fund for Nixon: Eisenhower contemplated
dropping Nixon from ticket, but Nixon went onto TV and wooed audiences, saying the only gift he received
was a puppy from his young daughter named Checkers: public sympathy, television is advantageous medium
- Hidden-hand presidency president maneuvered deftly behind the scenes while seeming not to concern
himself in public with partisan questions: Eisenhower did his best to set a quieter national mood, hoping to
decrease the need for federal intervention in social and economic issues and avoid complete rollback of New Deal
- Soviet union launched first satellite, Sputnik in 1957: Eisenhower supported U.S. space program, NASA (National
Aeronautics and Space Administration) founded in 1958
- Eisenhower had outlays for veterans benefits, unemployment compensation, rise in minimum wage and created
new Department of Health, Education, Welfare and in 1953, consolidated control of social welfare programs
- Interstate Highway Act 1956: authorized $26billion over ten-year period for construction of nationally integrated
highway system
EMERGENCE OF CIVIL RIGHTS AS A NATIONAL ISSUE
- Beginning with WWII, National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) redoubled its efforts
to combat segregation in housing, transportationetc Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka: segregated
schools mandated by Board of Education were unconstitutional: stigmatized entire race
- Court used this case to end segregation in many public places 1956: Southern Manifesto: 101 members of
Congress denounced Brown case as being abuse of judicial power
- Eisenhower showed little interest in civil rights, but entrenched southern resistance to federal authority eventually
forced him to act: 1957, governor of Arkansas defied federal court order to desegregate Little Rocks Central
High School: Eisenhower sent 1000 federal troops to protect students against harassment
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Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man: arrested and charged with violating
segregation ordinance: black community turned to Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. endorsed plan to boycott
citys bus system until it was integrated catapulted King to national prominence
THE NEW LOOK OF FOREIGN POLICY
- Eisenhower negotiated end to Korean War turned his attention to Europe: Stalins death in 1953 precipitated
intra-party struggle in Soviet Union (lasted until 1956 when Nikita Kruschev emerged as successor
- Nationalists revolted in Hungary in 1956 to move Hungry out of Warsaw Pact Soviet tanks moved into
Budapest: U.S. could not resist
- Although Eisenhower opposed communism, he hoped to keep cost of containment at manageable level
- Soviet and U.S. matched weapon for weapon in arms race: boosted military-industrial sectors of both nations, but
debilitated their social welfare programs by funneling resources into soon-to-be obsolete weapons systems
- New Look policy: economize by developing mass nuclear arsenal as an alternative to more expensive
conventional forces: more bang for the buck: more effort to developing hydrogen bomb
- New Look Policy also extended collective security agreements between U.S. and its allies: to complement NATO
in Europe, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954, linked U.S. to Philippines, Australia, Pakistan,
Thailand and New Zealand
- U.S. supported stable governments, no matter how repressive they were, if they were strongly anti-communist:
Used CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) to involve in foreign affairs, and even overthrow several governments
THE COLD WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST
- Seeking to draw new countries into U.S.-led world system, U.S. encouraged development of stable market
economies in new countries that separated from major empires: However, Truman and Eisenhower, polarized by
their perspective on the cold war, failed to recognize that indigenous nationalist or socialist movements in
emerging nations had their own goals, and were not, as they assume, necessarily under the control of either local
communists or the Soviet Union: failure to appreciate complexity of local conditions limited effectiveness of
American policies
- Many Jews after WWII settled in Palestine and formed nation of Israel in 1948, Truman recognizing this new
state Egypt: Abdel Nassar came to power in 1954 and pledged to lead Egypt and entire Middle East out of its
dependent colonial relationship with West through form of pan-Arab socialism: obtained arms from Soviet Union
U.S. countered with offer of American assistance, but Nassar refused and declared Egypts neutrality
- U.S. and Allies withdraw financial aid and Nassar retaliates, seizing the Suez Canal: Britain and France attacked
Egypt and retook the canal: at the same time, the Soviets were repressing the revolt in Hungary left U.S. in
awkward position of denouncing Soviet Union while tolerating same act done by Allies: U.S. and U.N.
condemned Egypt and forced France and Britain to pull back: Egypt retained canal and Soviet influence increased
- 1957, Eisenhower Doctrine approved: American forces would assist any nation in the region requiring such aid,
against overt armed aggression from any nation controlled by International Communism
DOMESTIC IMPACT OF COLD WAR
- Testing nuclear weapons: radioactive fallout from above-ground bomb tests affected citizens
- 1993, Department of Energy released classified documents on human radiation experiments conducted in 1940s
and 1950s under Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and other agencies
- Nuclear arms race also fostered fear in all Americans: bomb shelters, civil defense drills, survival measures served
as daily reminder of threat of nuclear war
- MAD (mutually assured destruction): Eisenhower had doubts on policy of annihilating enemy, even if own
country was destroyed: found that arms race was also extremely costly
- 1960, Soviet Union shot down American U-2 spy plane and captured pilot: U.S. first declined it to be an
espionage plane, but later admitted it: Kruschev angry and did not go to proposed summit meeting to negotiate on
arms agreement